was

See also: Was, WAs, wás, wäs, wąs, Wąs, waˑs, waš, Waś, wäs-, and ƿas

Translingual

Symbol

was

(international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Washo.

English

Alternative forms

wus
wuz

Etymology

From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, (compare Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e, from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. The paradigm of “to be” has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of three originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form be is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become”). The forms is and are are both derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Lastly, the past forms starting with w- such as was and were are from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).

Pronunciation

(stressed)

(UK, New Zealand) enPR: wŏz, wŭz, IPA^(key): /wɒz/, /wʌz/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(US) enPR: wŭz, wŏz, IPA^(key): /wʌz/, /wɑz/
(General Australian) enPR: wŏz, IPA^(key): /wɔz/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ʌz, -ɒz

(unstressed)

(UK, US) enPR: wəz, IPA^(key): /wəz/
Audio (US) (file)
(in the phrase “I was there.”)
Audio (Southern England) (file)

Verb

was

first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
I was castigated and scorned.
third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
It was a really humongous slice of cake.
- 1915, John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, I:
  I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that.
- 1996 August 1, George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire; 1), HarperCollins, →ISBN, OCLC 654895986, page 16:
  He saw it clear enough, now that the lordling had pointed it out. “They couldn't have froze. Not if the Wall was weeping. It wasn't cold enough."
(now colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
There was three of them there.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Gen 40:17:
  And in the vppermoſt baſket there was of all maner of †bake-meats foꝛ Pharaoh,and the birds did eat them out of the baſket vpon my head.
(now colloquial or nonstandard) second-person singular simple past indicative of be.
- 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], OCLC 13631815:
  You was pleased to cast a favourable eye upon me.
- 1913, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Poison Belt‎:
  "Was you outside the Bank of England, sir?"
(colloquial, nonstandard) first-person plural simple past indicative of be
- 2001, Darrel Rachel, The Magnolias Still Bloom, page 104:
  “What happened here, Hadley?” the chief asked. “We was robbed, damn it, we was robbed.”
(colloquial, nonstandard) third-person plural simple past indicative of be
- 1968, Etta James; Ellington Jordan; Billy Foster (lyrics and music), “I'd Rather Go Blind”, performed by Etta James:
  When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now baby / Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeah

Derived terms

wasband
wasbian

Anagrams

ASW, AWS, SAW, Saw, aws, saw

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Audio (file)

Noun

was (uncountable)

wax

Verb

was

past of wees

Verb

was (present was, present participle wassende, past participle gewas)

to wash

Banda

Noun

was

water

References

"Elat, Kei Besar" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Cebuano

Etymology

Slang variant of wala

Pronoun

was

(slang) (informal) nothing; none.

Adjective

was

(informal) absent.

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʋɑs/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ɑs

Etymology 1

Cognate with English wash.

Noun

was m (plural wassen, diminutive wasje n)

laundry, clothes that need to be washed, or just have been washed.

Descendants

Negerhollands: wasch, was

Verb

was

first-person singular present indicative of wassen
imperative of wassen

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *was, from Proto-Germanic *wahsą. Cognate with German Wachs, English wax, Danish voks, Swedish vax.

Noun

was m or n (plural wassen)

wax
growth

Verb

was

first-person singular present indicative of wassen
imperative of wassen

Derived terms

bijenwas
gewas
uit de kluiten gewassen
uitwas

Etymology 3

Cognate with English was.

Verb

was

singular past indicative of zijn
singular past indicative of wezen

Anagrams

swa

German

Alternative forms

wat (colloquial in western and parts of northern Germany)

Etymology

From Middle High German waz, from Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod. Cognate with Bavarian was, wås, Silesian German woas (was), Dutch wat, English what, Danish hvad. Doublet of wat.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vas/
(file)
(Bavaria)
(file)
Rhymes: -as

Pronoun

was

(interrogative) what
Was machst du heute?
What are you doing today?
(relative) which (referring to the entire preceding clause)
Sie tanzte gut, was er bewunderte.
She was a good dancer, which he admired.
(relative) that, which (referring to das, alles, etwas, nichts, and neuter substantival adjectives)
Das ist alles, was ich weiß.
That's all that I know.
Das ist das Beste, was mir passieren konnte.
That's the best that could have happened to me.
(relative, colloquial) that, which (referring to neuter singular nouns, instead of standard das)
Siehst du das weiße Haus, was renoviert wird?
Do you see that white house, which is being renovated?
(indefinite, colloquial) something, anything (instead of standard etwas)
Ich hab was gefunden.
I've found something.
- 2017, Simone Meier, Fleisch, Kein & Aber 2018, p. 39:
  Er wollte Anna was antun.
  He wanted to do something to Anna.

Declension

Declension of was
nominative	was
genitive	wessen or (dated) wes
dative	—
accusative	was

Usage notes

Was is colloquially used with prepositions, chiefly but not exclusively in southern regions. Otherwise it is generally replaced with a pronominal adverb containing wo- (or in a few cases wes-). Hence: Womit hast du das gemacht? (“With what did you do that?”), instead of Mit was hast du das gemacht?, and weswegen instead of wegen was.
The genitive case, and the dative case if necessary for clearness, can be paraphrased by means of welcher Sache (“what thing”). Possessive genitives are more commonly paraphrased with wovon (“of what”). It is also possible to use the genitive form wessen but as this word is also the genitive form of wer, it is usually used in the sence of was only in subordinate clauses when the meaning is clear like das, wessen Farbe rot ist or das, wessen ich bedarf. It wouldn't be used in sentences like Wessen ist dass? because these would be understood as the genitive forms of wer.
The colloquial was meaning "something" can only be the first word in a sentence if followed by an adjective: Was Wichtiges fehlt noch. (“Something important is missing.”) Otherwise the full form etwas must be used: Etwas fehlt noch. (“Something is missing.”) The reason for this is that the latter sentence could be misinterpreted as a question if was were used.

Derived terms

komme, was wolle
was ist dir; was ist Dir
was kostet es
was zum Geier; was zum Kuckuck

tun, was man nicht lassen kann
was auch immer
was der Bauer nicht kennt, das frisst er nicht
was geht
was gibt's Neues
was du nicht sagst; was ihr nicht sagt; was Sie nicht sagen

Determiner

was

(archaic) what; what kind of
Synonym: was für
- 1718, Johann Caspar Schwartz, Johann Caspar Schwartzens Fünfftes Dutzend Wund-artzneyischer Anmerckungen von vielerley Arten der Geschwülste und Geschwüre, Hamburg, page 97:
  [...] denen Thieren und Gewächsen aber, von was Arten und Geschlechten selbige auch nur immer seyn mögen, [...]
  (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1742, Johann Christoph Gottsched, Versuch einer Critischen Dichtkunst, Leipzig, page 442:
  Held August, du kühner Krieger! / Du bist der beglückte Sieger, / Vor, und in, und nach dem Fall. / Auf was Arten, auf was Weisen, / Soll man deine Thaten preisen / Hier und da, und überall?
  (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1786, Johann Michael Schosulan, Gründlicher Unterricht für das Landvolk: Wie und auf was Weise jedermann seinen etrunkenen, erhängten, erstickten, erfrornen, von Hitze verschmachteten und von Blitz berührten unglücklichen Nebenmenschen Hülfe leisten, der Retter aber für sein eigenes Leben sich selbst sicher stellen solle., Wien, title:
  Wie und auf was Weise jedermann seinen [...] Nebenmenschen Hülfe leisten [...] solle.
  (please add an English translation of this quote)

Usage notes

In the dative and genitive feminine, the inflected form waser occurred.

Adverb

was

(colloquial) a little, somewhat
Ich komm was später.
I'll arrive a little later.
(interrogative, colloquial) why, what for
Synonyms: warum, wieso, weshalb
Was bist du heute so stumm?
Why are you so silent today?

Gothic

Romanization

was

Romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐍃

Gros Ventre

Noun

was

bear

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German waz, from Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vas/

Pronoun

was

(interrogative) what
Was machst-du?
What are you doing?
(relative) what
Was-ich net esse, essd de Hund.
What I don't eat, the dog eats.
(indefinite) something, anything
Noch was?
Anything else?

Low German

Verb

was

first-person singular simple past indicative of węsen
third-person singular simple past indicative of węsen
apocopated form of wasse (“wash”), second-person singular imperative of wassen (mainly used in the Netherlands, equivalent to other dialects' wasche/waske)
apocopated form of wasse (“wax”), second-person singular imperative of wassen
apocopated form of wasse (“grow”), second-person singular imperative of wassen

Usage notes

Notes on the verb węsen (to be): In recent times (~1800) the old subjunctive wer is used in place of was by many speakers. This might be the old subjunctive which is now used as a preterite or a reduction of weren, which is the preterite plural indicative of the verb. It might also be an imitation of the High German cognate war. Many smaller dialectal clusters do this, but no dialect does it. That means: even though there are many regions within e.g. Lower Saxony that use wer for was, maybe even the majority, there is no straight connection between them, i.e. which form is used can depend on preference, speaker and specific region. Due to this "one town this way, one town that way"-nature of the situation no form can be named "standard" for a greater dialect, such as Low Saxon.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [was]

Pronoun

was

genitive of wy
accusative of wy
locative of wy

Mayangna

Noun

was

water
stream, river

References

Smith, Ethnogeography of the Mayangna of Nicaragua, in Ethno- and historical geographic studies in Latin America: essays honoring William V. Davidson (2008), page 88: The location of 46 settlements from this list containing the term ”was" —meaning "water" or "stream" — were obtained[.]

Middle Dutch

Verb

was

first/third-person singular past indicative of wēsen

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English wæs (first/third person singular indicative past of wesan), from Proto-Germanic *was (first/third person singular indicative past of *wesaną).

Verb

was

first/third-person singular past indicative of been
- c. 1375, “Book VI”, in Iohne Barbour, De geſtis bellis et uirtutibus domini Roberti de Brwyß […] (The Brus, Advocates MS. 19.2.2)‎, Ouchtirmunſye: Iohannes Ramſay, published 1489, folio 21, recto, lines 431-434; republished at Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, c. 2010:
  Thyꝛwall þ[at] was þ[air] capitain / Wes þ[air] in þe baꝛgain slain / ⁊ off his men þe maſt p[ar]ty / Ϸe laue fled full affrayitly
  Thirlwall, who was their commander / was killed there in the struggle / with the greatest part of his men; / the rest fled very frightened.
(dialectal) second-person singular past indicative of been
(dialectal) plural past indicative of been

Descendants

English: was
Scots: was, wis
Yola: waas, was, waz, 'as, as

Pronoun

was

Alternative form of whos (“whose”, genitive)

Middle Low German

Alternative forms

wass

Verb

was

first/third-person singular preterite indicative of wēsen

Old High German

Alternative forms

uuas, ƿas (Manuscript spelling)

Verb

was

first/third-person singular past indicative of wesan

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German was, Dutch wat, English what.

Pronoun

was

(interrogative) what

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vas/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -as
Syllabification: was

Pronoun

was

genitive/accusative/locative of wy

Proto-Norse

Romanization

was

Romanization of ᚹᚨᛊ

Scots

Noun

was

plural of wa

Seychellois Creole

Etymology

From French ouest.

Noun

was

west

References

Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français

Somali

Verb

was

fuck

Descendants

→ English: wass

Spanish

Etymology

From WhatsApp.

Noun

was m (plural was)

a message sent or received over WhatsApp

Related terms

wasapear

Tok Pisin

This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Tok Pisin is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Etymology

From English watch.

Verb

was

angel; any supernatural creature in heaven according to Christian theology
- 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:24:
  God i rausim pinis man na meri, na em i makim ol strongpela ensel bilong sanap na was i stap long hap sankamap bilong gaden Iden. Na tu em i putim wanpela bainat i gat paia i lait long en na i save tanim tanim long olgeta hap. Oltaim ol dispela ensel wantaim dispela bainat i save was i stap, nogut wanpela man i go klostu long dispela diwai bilong givim laip.
  →New International Version translation

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /waːs/

Noun

was

Soft mutation of gwas.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
gwas	was	ngwas	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Yola

Verb

was

Alternative form of waas
- 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3:
  At by mizluck was ee-pit t'drive in.
  Who by misluck was placed to drive in.

References

Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 84

was

Translingual

Symbol

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Noun

Verb

Verb

Banda

Noun

References

Cebuano

Etymology

Pronoun

Adjective

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Descendants

Verb

Etymology 2

Noun

Verb

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Verb

Anagrams

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Declension

Usage notes

Derived terms

Determiner

Usage notes

Adverb

Gothic

Romanization

Gros Ventre

Noun

Hunsrik

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

See also

Further reading

Low German

Verb

Usage notes

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Mayangna

Noun

References

Middle Dutch

Verb

Middle English

Etymology 1

Verb

Descendants

Pronoun

Middle Low German

Alternative forms

Verb

Old High German

Alternative forms

Verb