were
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-Germanic *wēz-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.
Alternative forms
- ware (old eye dialect)
- weare (obsolete)
Pronunciation
stressed
- (UK) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /wɜː(ɹ)/
- (UK, regional) enPR: wâr, IPA(key): /wɛə(ɹ)/
- (US) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /wɝ/
- (Ireland, also) enPR: wär, IPA(key): /wɑːɹ/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
- Homophone: whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
unstressed
- (UK) enPR: wər, IPA(key): /wə(ɹ)/
Audio (London) (file)
- (US) enPR: wər, IPA(key): /wɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
- Homophone: we're
Verb
were
- second-person singular simple past indicative of be
- John, you were the only person to see him.
- first/second/third-person plural simple past indicative of be
- We were about to leave.
- Mary and John, you were right.
- They were a fine group.
- They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
- first/second/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive of be
- I wish that it were Sunday.
- I wish that I were with you.
- with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause:
- Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...)
- Were father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...)
- with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause:
- 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
- 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) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
Synonyms
- (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with “thou”)
- (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with “thou”)
See also
- am
- are
- is
- art
- be
- being
- been
- beest
- was
- wast
- wert
Etymology 2
From Middle English were, wer, see wer.
Noun
were (plural weres)
- Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)
- 1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons
- Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.
- 1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History [...] arranged [...] by T. Young, page 19:
- If by that he failed to pay or give security for the were, or fine, at which murder was legally rated; he might be put to death by the relatives of the murdered man.
- 1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:
- Written statutes busied themselves only with the amount of the were, or fine, or (for the first century after the Conquest) with the method of procedure.
- 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..."...
- 1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons
Etymology 3
Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).
Noun
were (plural weres)
- (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
Anagrams
- Ewer, ewer, ewre, rewe, weer
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -eːrə
Verb
were
- (archaic) singular present subjunctive of weren
Anagrams
- weer
Fijian
Noun
were
- garden
Verb
were (wereca)
- to garden, to weed (wereca specifically)
Irarutu
Etymology
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Further reading
- Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics)
Maku'a
Noun
were
- water
References
- 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 English
Etymology 1
From Old English wǣre (second-person singular indicative and subjunctive past of wesan).
Alternative forms
- weer, weere, wer, wære
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwɛːr(ə)/, /ˈwɛr(ə)/
Verb
were
- inflection of been:
- second-person singular indicative past
- singular subjunctive past
Descendants
- English: were (dialectal war, ware)
- Scots: war, waar, ware, waur, wur, wir
- Yola: war, ware
Etymology 2
From weren.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwɛːr(ə)/
Noun
were (uncountable)
- wearing
Descendants
- English: wear
- Yola: were, wer
References
- “wēre, n.(4).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3
From a conflation of Old English wǣron and Old English wǣren.
Verb
were
- Alternative form of weren
Etymology 4
From Old English werre, wyrre.
Noun
were
- Alternative form of werre
Mwani
Noun
were class 5 (plural mawere)
- breast
Northern Kurdish
Verb
were
- second-person singular imperative of hatin
Onin
Etymology
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Tocharian B
Noun
were m
- smell, odor, scent, aroma
Toro
Noun
were
- day
References
- Roger Blench, The Toro language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2012)
Uruangnirin
Etymology
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Yola
Alternative forms
- wer
Etymology
From Middle English were.
Noun
were
- wearing
Related terms
- waare (“to 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
Yoruba
Alternative forms
- iwèrè
- ièrè
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wè.ɾè/
Noun
wèrè
- insanity, madness, imbecile
- (sometimes derogatory, offensive) mad person
- Synonyms: ayírí, asínwín, aṣiwèrè
Derived terms
- #Sọ̀rọ̀SókèWèrè (“2020 anti police brutality hashtag”)
- aṣápẹ́-fún-wèrè-jó àti wèrè, ọgbọọgba ni wọ́n (“one who claps for a lunatic to dance is no better than the lunatic”)
- ebi ni yóò kọ́ wèrè lọ́gbọ́n (“it is hunger that will force sense into the fool”)
- sọ̀rọ̀ sókè wèrè (“phrase derived from the hashtag”)
- ṣiwèrè (“to go mad”)
- wèrè la fi ń wo wèrè (“fight fire with fire”)
- wèrè ló pọ̀ jù nínú yín (“your madness is too much”)
- ya wèrè (“to go mad”)
Descendants
- → Nigerian Pidgin: werey