were
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-Germanic *wēz-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.
PronunciationEdit
stressed
- (UK) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /wɜː(ɹ)/
- (US) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /wɝ/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
- Homophone: whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
unstressed
VerbEdit
were
- Second-person singular simple past tense indicative of be.
- John, you were the only person to see him.
- First-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.
- We were about to leave.
- Second-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.
- Mary and John, you were right.
- Third-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.
- They were a fine group.
- They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
- Simple imperfect subjunctive in all persons of be.
- I wish that it were Sunday.
- I wish that I were with you.
- 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Maccabi would have been out of contention were it not for Stoke's profligacy, but their fortune eventually ran out as the visitors opened the scoring.
- (Northern England) was.
SynonymsEdit
- (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with "thou")
- (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with "thou")
See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English were, wer, from Old English wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (“man”). Cognate with Latin vir (“man”). The original meaning of "man" is now preserved only in compounds like were wolf (“man-wolf”) and were gild (“man gold (payment)”).
NounEdit
were (plural weres)
- (obsolete) A fine for slaying a man; weregild.
- Bosworth
- Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.
- 2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, →ISBN, page 12-13:
- The consequence of conviction was, the payment to the person injured, of a were, or penalty, proportioned to the offencel but though this was the ordinary course, the recovery of the were was not the only object of the proceedings. "The were," says Reeve, "in cases of homicide, and the fines that were paid in cases of theft of various kinds, were only to redeem the offender from the proper punishment of the law, which was death, and that was reddemable, not only by paying money, but by undergoing some personal pains; hence it is that we hear a great variety of corporal punishments..."...
- Bosworth
- (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
Related termsEdit
AnagramsEdit
DutchEdit
IrarutuEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
NounEdit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Further readingEdit
- Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics)
KurdishEdit
Maku'aEdit
NounEdit
were
ReferencesEdit
- Aone van Engelenhoven, The position of Makuva among the Austronesian languages of Southwest Maluku and East Timor, in Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift, Pacific linguistics 601 (2009)
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old English wǣre (second-person singular indicative and subjunctive past of wesan).
Alternative formsEdit
VerbEdit
were
DescendantsEdit
- English: were
Etymology 2Edit
From a conflation of Old English wǣron and Old English wǣren.
VerbEdit
were
- Alternative form of weren
Etymology 3Edit
From Old English werre, wyrre.
NounEdit
were
- Alternative form of werre
MwaniEdit
OninEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
NounEdit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Tocharian BEdit
ToroEdit
NounEdit
were
ReferenceEdit
- Roger Blench, The Toro language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2012)
UruangnirinEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
NounEdit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)