wer

See also: wër and WER

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English wer, were, from Old English wer (“man”), from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (“man, freeman”). Cognate with Middle High German wër (“man”), Swedish värbror (“brother-in-law”), Norwegian verfader (“father-in-law”), Latin vir (“man, husband”), Old Irish fer, Middle Welsh gwr. The original meaning of “man” is now preserved only in compounds like werewolf, were wolf (“man-wolf”) and wergeld, were gild (“man gold (payment)”).

Alternative forms

were

Noun

wer (plural wers)

(obsolete or historical) A man; a male; a husband
- 1862, E. William Robertson, Scotland Under Her Early Kings, page 137:
  […] the character of a horseman was inseparable connected with the knight—the military attendant of the baron, who was himself nothing more than the Wer, or Man, of the king—even the armiger, […]
- 1864, Thomas Oswald Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England [...] from Brit. mus. ms. Cotton. Vitellius C. III, page 205:
  Further is this wort of two kinds, wer and wife, or male and female. The wer, or male, hath white blossoms, and the wife, or female, hath red or brown; either is beneficial and wonderlike, and they have on them wondrous virtue.
(obsolete or historical) A fine for slaying a man; wergeld.
- 1876, Essays in Anglo-Saxon Law, page 144:
  Under the system of money compensation, the kindred of the slain must demand payment of the wer, or prosecute the feud. They had the right to the wer when paid, and must by oath release the slayer and his kindred from the feud.
- 1895, Frederick Pollock; Frederic William Maitland, “Inheritance”, in The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At the University Press; Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, & Company, OCLC 78010698, § 1 (Antiquities), page 239:
  It was so in the England of Alfred's day; the maternal kinsfolk paid a third of the wer. The Leges Henrici, which about such a matter will not be inventing new rules, tell us that the paternal kinsfolk pay and receive two-thirds, the maternal kinsfolk one-third of the wer; and this is borne out by other evidence.

Related terms

were
were-
werewolf
wergeld
world

Verb

wer

Eye dialect spelling of were.

Anagrams

ERW, Rew, erw, rew

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch weer.

Noun

wer

weather
Wer ni mau ujang.
The weather will be rainy now.

References

D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998) Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎, Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Cornish

Adjective

wer

Soft mutation of gwer.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wer, from Old High German wer, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ. Related to wo.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /veːr/, [veːɐ̯], [vɛɐ̯], [ʋ-]
Audio (file)
Audio (file)
Homophone: Wehr
Rhymes: -eːɐ̯

Pronoun

wer

(interrogative) who (what person or people)
Wer hat das gesagt? ― Who said that?
(interrogative, colloquial) what, which (one) (see usage notes)
(relative) whoever, he who, someone who, the person who, anyone who (whatever person or persons)
Wer eine Frage hat, kann sich jetzt melden.
Whoever has a question, put up their hands now.
Wer im Glashaus sitzt, soll nicht mit Steinen werfen. (proverb)
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
(indefinite, colloquial) somebody, someone; anybody, anyone (an unspecified person)
Synonyms: jemand, einer
Da ist wer an der Tür. ― There's somebody at the door.

Usage notes

(what): In colloquial German, wer and its forms may be used in reference to things. This is often done when asking about a noun whose gender one knows to be masculine or feminine. For example: Kannst du mir mal den Dings rübergeben? – Wen? (“Could you pass me the thingamabob?” – “Pass what?”) In this case, the interrogative mirrors the grammatical gender of the noun one asks about.
(someone): The colloquial wer meaning “someone” cannot usually be the first word in a main clause, because it could be misinterpreted as an interrogative in this position. The only exception is when it is followed by a nominalized adjective:
Wer Neues ist in die Mannschaft gekommen. – Someone new joined the team.

Declension

Declension of wer
nominative	wer
genitive	wessen or (dated) wes
dative	wem
accusative	wen

Coordinate terms

was

Derived terms

irgendwer
wer da
Werdaruf
Werfall
Wemfall
Wenfall

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German wer, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈvɛɐ̯/

Pronoun

wer

(interrogative) who
Wer kommd dart?
Who goes there?
Wer sihst-du?
Who do you see?

Kuri

Noun

wer

water

References

Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 123

Meriam

Noun

wer

egg
testicle
star

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English wer, from Proto-West Germanic *wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós; compare Old Norse verr, Latin vir, Old Prussian wijrs, Sanskrit वीर (vīra).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wɛr/

Noun

wer (plural wers)

a man, a husband

Synonyms

husbonde, mon

Antonyms

wif (with respect to gender)

Related terms

werwolf
world

Descendants

English: wer, were

Etymology 2

From Old English wǣre.

Verb

wer

Alternative form of were

Etymology 3

From Late Old English werre, wyrre (“war”).

Noun

wer

Alternative form of werre (“war”)

Ndom

Noun

wer

water

References

Oceanic linguistics, volumes 20 à 21, University Press of Hawaii, page 129, 1981

Northern Kurdish

Adverb

wer

so

Old English

Alternative forms

wær

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wer/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *weraz. Germanic cognates include Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old High German wer, Old Norse verr, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂 (wair). The Indo-European root is also the source of Latin vir, Sanskrit वीर (vīrá), Old Irish fer, Lithuanian výras.

Noun

wer m

man
male
- c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English
  Ǣġþer is mann ġe wer ġe wīf.
  A person is either a male or a female.
husband
(poetic) hero, warrior
(in compounds) civil
werrēaf ― civil dress, civil clothing
werþēod ― people, nation

Declension

Declension of wer (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	wer	weras
accusative	wer	weras
genitive	weres	wera
dative	were	werum

Synonyms

(man): beorn (poetic), guma (poetic), hæleþ, mann (rare or non-literary), mæċġ, rinc (poetic), seċġ (poetic)

Antonyms

wif (with respect to sex)

Derived terms

weorold
werġield
werlīċ
werwulf

Descendants

Middle English: wer
- English: wer, were

Etymology 2

From werian.

Noun

wer m (nominative plural weras)

weir

Descendants

Middle English: were
- English: weir

Old High German

Alternative forms

ƿer (Manuscript form)

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Cognate with Old English wer and Old Norse verr.

Noun

wer m

man

Derived terms

weralt
werwulf

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *warją.

Noun

wer n

dam, weir

Descendants

German: Wehr
Italian: gora

Etymology 3

From Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz. Cognate with Old Norse hverr.

Pronoun

wer

(interrogative) who
Wer was er?
Who was he?
- Hildebrandslied, ll. 7-9
  hıltıbrant gımahalta herıbranteſ ſunu her uuaſ heroro man
  feraheſ frotoro • her fragen gıſtuont
  fohem uuortum • ƿer ſin fater ƿarı […]
  Hildebrand spoke, Heribrand's son—he was a hoarier man, wiser of life;—he posed his question with few words, who his [Hadubrand's] father might be […]

Descendants

Middle High German: wer; (northern) wie, wē
- Central Franconian: wä
- Cimbrian: bèar, ber
- German: wer
- Yiddish: ווער‎ (ver)

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Cognate with Old English wer and Old Norse verr.

Noun

wer m

man
hero

Declension

Declension of wer (masculine a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	wer	weros
accusative	wer	weros
genitive	weres	werō
dative	were	werum
instrumental	—	—

Derived terms

werold
werwulf

Descendants

warwulf
werld

Selaru

Noun

wer

water

References

Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary

Tocharian B

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

wer ?

hatred, enmity

Yola

Noun

wer

Alternative form of were (“wear”)

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 77

wer

English

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Noun

Related terms

Verb

Anagrams

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Noun

References

Cornish

Adjective

German

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

Declension

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Further reading

Hunsrik

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

See also

Further reading

Kuri

Noun

References

Meriam

Noun

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Verb

Etymology 3

Noun

Ndom

Noun

References

Northern Kurdish

Adverb

Old English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Noun

Descendants

Old High German

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Descendants

Etymology 3

Pronoun

Descendants

Old Saxon

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Derived terms