Dictionary

were en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /wɝ/ strong form
• wär strong form
• /wɛr/ Scotland, strong form
• /wə(ɹ)/ weak form
• /wɔː/ Northumbria, strong form
• (US) audio
• wûr Scotland, strong form
• wûr strong form
• /wɜː/ strong form
• /wɛː/ Humberside, fair–fur merger, strong form
• /wɜː(ɹ)/ Lancashire, fair–fur merger, strong form
• wâr Liverpool, fair–fur merger, strong form
• /wøː/ strong form
• wâr Humberside, fair–fur merger, strong form
• (London) audio
• (US) audio
• wər weak form
• /wɛː/ Teesside, fair–fur merger, strong form
• /wɚ/ weak form
• /weː/ Liverpool, fair–fur merger, strong form
• wâr Teesside, fair–fur merger, strong form
• wûr Lancashire, fair–fur merger, strong form
• /wɑːɹ/ strong form

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der. Proto-Germanic *wēzīn Proto-West Germanic *wāʀīn Old English wǣre Old English wǣron Old English wǣren Middle English were English were Inherited from Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun, *wāʀīn, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.

Meanings

1. (form-of, indicative, past, second-person, singular) second-person singular simple past indicative of be
   form of be
   • John, you were the only person to see him.
2. (form-of, indicative, past, plural) plural simple past indicative of be
   form of be
   • They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
   • We were about to leave.
   • They were a fine group.
   • Mary and John, you were right.
3. simple subjunctive of be
   • 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. 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
   • I'd say you were about 50 years old right now.
   • A long shot, it may be, at immortality, but longer ones have hit; or Guido Fawkes, William Tell, and Samuel Pepys were forgotten now. 1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
   • I wish that it were Sunday.
   • If you were to move your chair a little, we'd all fit.
   • I wish that I were with you.
4. (Ireland, Multicultural-London-English, Northern-England, first-person, form-of, indicative, past, singular, third-person) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
   form of be

Forms

Relateds

art · been · was · am · being · beest · wast · be · wert · are · is

Synonyms

wert · wast

were en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English were, wer, see wer.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”).
   alt of wer
   • 1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.
   • 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..."... 2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, →ISBN, pages 12–13:
   • 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. 1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:
   • 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. 1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History … arranged … by T. Young, page 19:

Forms

were en · NOUN · etymology 3

Etymology

Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).

Meanings

1. (slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.

Forms