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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

was en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • wəz weak form
  • (US) audio
  • /wɔz/ strong form
  • /wæs/ strong form
  • wŭz strong form
  • /wæz/ strong form
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • [wɔ(ː)z] (dialectal)
  • (US) audio
  • /wɒz/ strong form
  • wŏz strong form
  • [wəz] strong form
  • /wɑz/ strong form
  • /wʌz/ strong form
  • /wɒz/ (dialectal)
  • /wəz/ weak form

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- Proto-Germanic *was Old English wæs Middle English was English was From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. See also Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var); also Kamkata-viri vos-, Sanskrit उवास (uvā́sa). 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 and its derived forms been and being are from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become”). The present-tense indicative forms am, 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”).

Meanings

  1. (first-person, form-of, indicative, past, singular) first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
    form of be
    • I was castigated and scorned.
  2. (form-of, indicative, past, singular, third-person) third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
    form of be
    • It was a really humongous slice of cake.
    • 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." 1996 August 1, George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire; 1), HarperCollins, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 16:
    • I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that. 1915, John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, section I:
  3. (colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
    • 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. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Gen 40:17:
    • There was three of them there.
  4. (colloquial, form-of, indicative, nonstandard, past, qualifier:African-American Vernacular, second-person, singular) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
    form of be
    • "Was you outside the Bank of England, sir?" 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
    • You was pleased to cast a favourable eye upon me. 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; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:
  5. (colloquial, first-person, form-of, indicative, nonstandard, past, plural) first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
    form of be
    • “What happened here, Hadley?” the chief asked. “We was robbed, damn it, we was robbed.” 2001, Darrel Rachel, The Magnolias Still Bloom, page 104:
  6. (colloquial, form-of, indicative, nonstandard, past, plural, qualifier:African-American Vernacular, third-person) third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
    form of be
    • When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now baby / Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeah 1968, Etta James, Ellington Jordan, Billy Foster, “I'd Rather Go Blind”, performed by Etta James:
    • Take or be taken. Get yours or get got. It was the code of the streets and I'd lived by it. The way things was looking, I was prolly gone die by it too. 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 24:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
wuz alternative lexicographic
wus alternative lexicographic

Deriveds

never-wozzer · iswas · wast · wasband · Wasrael · tiswas · wasn't · wasbian

Descendants

わず

Relateds

art · been · am · woz · being · wuz · beest · wast · be · wert · are · were · is