were
VerbSubstantivSubstantivTop 100 in Filmdialogen
- //wə(ɹ)//
- //wɜː//
- //wɛː//
simple subjunctive of be
Verb
- 1
simple subjunctive of be
I wish that it were Sunday.
I wish that I were with you.
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,...)
A long shot, it may be, at immortality, but longer ones have hit; or Guido Fawkes, William Tell, and Samuel Pepys were forgotten now.
- 2
Auch eine Form von besecond-person singular simple past indicative of be
John, you were the only person to see him.
- 3
Auch eine Form von beplural 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.
- 4
Auch eine Form von befirst/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
Herkunft
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der. Proto-Germanic *wēzīn Proto-West Germanic *wāʀīn Old English wǣre 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.
Substantiv
- 1
Variante von werAlternative 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.
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.
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.
Herkunft
Inherited from Middle English were, wer, see wer.
Substantiv
- 1
SlangThe collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
Herkunft
Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).
Formen
- Plural
- weres