weren

English

Etymology

From Middle English weren, from Old English wǣron, plural past indicative of bēon, wǣren, plural past subjunctive of bēon, equivalent to were +‎ -en.

Verb

weren

1. (obsolete) plural simple past of be
   • 1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender

     But sike fancies weren foolerie,

     And broughten this Oake to this miserye.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book II, Canto VII:

     Therein an hundred raunges weren pight,

     And hundred fornaces all burning bright;

   • 1889, John Gower (edited by Henry Morley), Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins: Being the Confessio Amantis:

     For of the falsé Moabites

     Forth with the strength of Amonites

     Of that they weren first misget,

Anagrams

• newer, renew

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋeːrə(n)/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːrən

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wēren, from Old Dutch *werien, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną.

Verb

weren

1. (transitive) to hold back, to keep out

Inflection

Inflection of weren (weak)
infinitive	weren
past singular	weerde
past participle	geweerd
infinitive	weren
gerund	weren n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	weer	weerde
2nd person sing. (jij)	weert	weerde
2nd person sing. (u)	weert	weerde
2nd person sing. (gij)	weert	weerde
3rd person singular	weert	weerde
plural	weren	weerden
subjunctive sing.1	were	weerde
subjunctive plur.1	weren	weerden
imperative sing.	weer
imperative plur.1	weert
participles	werend	geweerd
1) Archaic.

Derived terms

• afweren
• verweren

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

weren

1. Plural form of weer

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Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch *werien, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną.

Verb

wēren

1. to hold back, to keep out, to resist
2. to prevent
3. to protect
4. to fight against, to oppose
5. to object (in court)
6. to refuse, to deny

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: weren
• Limburgish: waere

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *werien, from Proto-Germanic *wazjaną.

Verb

wēren

1. to continue, to persist

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “weren (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “weren (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929
• “weren (III)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From a conflation of Old English wǣron, the plural indicative past of wesan (from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, the third-person plural indicative past of *wesaną) and Old English wǣren, the plural subjunctive past of wesan (from Proto-Germanic *wēzīn, the third-person plural subjunctive past of *wesaną).

Alternative forms

• were, wern, weryn
• (after Old Norse vera) waren, warn, worn, woren

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛːr(ə)n/, /ˈwɛr(ə)n/

Verb

weren

1. Plural past indicative form of been
   • c. 1450, Richard the Redeless

     And rafte was youre riott and rest, for youre daiez weren wikkid […]

   • c. 1450, Prose Merlin

     Whan these thre kynges weren abedde and at her ese that nyght, the storye seith that they lay till on the morn that thei ronge to messe right erly, for it was a litill afore Halowmesse.

2. Plural subjunctive past form of been

Descendants

• English: were (obsolete wern, weren)

Etymology 2

From Old French guerrier, guerrer.

Verb

weren

1. Alternative form of werren