wear
See also: -wear and Wear
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to clothe, cover over; put on, wear, use; stock (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *wazjaną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress, put on (clothes)”).
Cognate to Sanskrit वस्ते (váste), Ancient Greek ἕννυμι (hénnumi, “put on”), Latin vestis (“garment”) (English vest), Albanian vesh (“dress up, wear”), Tocharian B wäs-, Old Armenian զգենում (zgenum), Welsh gwisgo, Hittite 𒉿𒀸- (waš-).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /wɛə(ɹ)/
- (General American) enPR: wâr, IPA(key): /wɛ(ə)ɹ/, [wɛɚ], [wɛɹ]
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
- Homophones: ware, we're, where (in accents with the wine-whine merger), were (some dialects)
Verb
wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past wore, past participle worn or (now colloquial and nonstandard) wore or (obsolete) worne)
- To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, etc.
- He's wearing some nice pants today. She wore her medals with pride. Please wear your seatbelt. Can you wear makeup and sunscreen at the same time? He was wearing his lunch after tripping and falling into the buffet.
- 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., OCLC 580270828, page 01:
- It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess:
- ‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’
- To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner.
- He wears eyeglasses. She wears her hair in braids.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
- It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.
- To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance.
- She wore a smile all day. He walked out of the courtroom wearing an air of satisfaction.
- 1870, Marion Harland, Helen Gardner's Wedding-day (page 139)
- Then the bridegroom came slowly up the walk, wearing a very unbridegroomlike aspect, […]
- (colloquial, with "it") To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation.
- I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it.
- To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.
- You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes. The water has slowly worn a channel into these rocks. Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks. Exile had worn the man to a shadow.
- (intransitive, copulative) To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use.
- The tiles were wearing thin due to years of children's feet.
- 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], OCLC 742335644:
- His stock of money […] began to wear very low.
- 1880, [Benjamin Disraeli], Endymion […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Longmans, Green, and Co., OCLC 1079347024:
- The family that had raised it wore out in the earlier part of this century
- To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.
- His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience. Toil and care soon wear the spirit. Our physical advantage allowed us to wear the other team out and win.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:
- Our ſoules, whoſe faculties can comprehend
The wondrous Architecture of the world:
And meaſure euery wandring planets courſe,
Still climing after knowledge infinite,
And alwaies mouing as the reſtles ſpheares,
Wils vs to weare our ſelues & neuer reſt, […]
- (intransitive) To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate.
- Don't worry, this fabric will wear. These pants will last you for years. This color wears so well. I must have washed this sweater a thousand times. I have to say, our friendship has worn pretty well. It's hard to get to know him, but he wears well.
- (intransitive, colloquial) (in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience.
- Her high pitched voice is really wearing on me lately.
- (intransitive, of time) To pass slowly, gradually or tediously.
- wear on, wear away. As the years wore on, we seemed to have less and less in common.
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:
- Away, I say; time wears.
- 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398:
- Thus wore out night.
- (nautical) To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind. Also written "ware". Past: weared, or wore/worn.
- Synonym: gybe
Derived terms
- forwear
- outwear
- outworn
- overwear
- ready-to-wear
- rewear
- unwearable
- wearable
- wear and tear
- wear away
- wear down
- wearer
- wear in
- wear off
- wear out, worn out, worn-out
- wear rose-colored glasses
- wear something on one's sleeve, wear one's heart on one's sleeve
- wear the pants
- wear thin
- worse for wear
Related terms
- vest
Translations
to have on (clothes)
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to have or carry on one's person habitually, or in a particular manner
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to bear or display in one's aspect or appearance
to overcome one's reluctance and endure
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to erode due to use
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to undergo gradual deterioration
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to exhaust physically
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to last or remain durable under hard use or over time
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to cause annoyance or irritation near the point of an exhaustion of patience
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of time: to pass slowly, gradually or tediously
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nautical: to bring to other tack by bringing the wind around the stern
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- don
- put on
Noun
wear (uncountable)
- (uncountable) (in combination) clothing
- footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear
- (uncountable) damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time
- 1895 May 7, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter X, in The Time Machine: An Invention, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, OCLC 4701980:
- Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.
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- (uncountable) fashion
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene vii]:
- Motley's the only wear.
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Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:wear.
Related terms
- wear and tear
Translations
clothing
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damage
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Etymology 2
From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to guard, keep, defend; ward off, hinder, prevent, forbid; restrain; occupy, inhabit; dam up; discharge obligations on (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, protect, ward off”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).
Cognate with Scots wer, weir (“to defend, protect”), Dutch weren (“to aver, ward off”), German wehren (“to fight”), Swedish värja (“to defend, ward off”), Icelandic verja (“to defend”).
Alternative forms
- wer, weir (Scotland)
Verb
wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past weared or wore, past participle weared or worn or (obsolete) worne)
- (now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.
- (now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To defend; protect.
- (now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.
- to wear the wolf from the sheep
- (now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.
Noun
wear (plural wears)
- Dated form of weir.
Anagrams
- -ware, Awre, Ware, arew, ware