FromMiddle Englishwer,were, fromOld Englishwer(“man”), fromProto-West Germanic*wer, fromProto-Germanic*weraz, fromProto-Indo-European*wiHrós(“man, freeman”).
Cognate withMiddle High Germanwër(“man”),Swedishvärbror(“brother-in-law”),Norwegianverfader(“father-in-law”),Latinvir(“man, husband”),Old Irishfer,Middle Welshgwr. The original meaning of “man” is now preserved only in compounds likewerewolf, were wolf(“man-wolf”) andwergeld, were gild(“man gold (payment)”).
wer (pluralwers)
- (obsolete or historical) Aman; amale; ahusband
1862, E. William Robertson,Scotland Under Her Early Kings, page137:[…]the character of a horseman was inseparable connected with theknight—the military attendant of the baron, who was himself nothing more than theWer, orMan, of the king—even thearmiger,[…]
1864, Thomas Oswald Cockayne,Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England[...] from Brit. mus. ms. Cotton. Vitellius C. III, page205:Further is this wort of two kinds,wer and wife, or male and female. Thewer, 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) Afine forslaying a man;wergeld.
1876,Essays in Anglo-Saxon Law, page144:Under the system of money compensation, the kindred of the slain must demand payment of thewer, or prosecute the feud. They had the right to thewer when paid, and must by oath release the slayer and his kindred from the feud.
1895,Frederick Pollock,Frederic William Maitland, “Inheritance”, inThe History of English Law before the Time ofEdward I, volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At theUniversity Press; Boston, Mass.:Little, Brown, & Company,→OCLC, § 1 (Antiquities),page239:It was so in the England ofAlfred's day; the maternal kinsfolk paid a third of thewer. TheLeges 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 thewer; and this is borne out by other evidence.
wer
- Eye dialect spelling ofwere.
Borrowed fromDutchweer.
wer
- weather
Wer ni mau ujang.- The weather will be rainy now.
- D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998)Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia[1], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa
wer
- Soft mutation ofgwer.
- Mixed mutation after 'th ofgwer.
FromMiddle High Germanwër, fromOld High Germanwer, fromProto-West Germanic*hwaʀ. Related towo.
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, theperson who,anyone who(whatever person or persons)
Wer eine Frage hat, kann sich jetzt melden.- Whoever has a question, put up their hands now.
- (indefinite, colloquial)somebody,someone;anybody,anyone(an unspecified person)
- Synonyms:jemand,einer
- Da istwer an der Tür. ―There'ssomeone at the door.
- (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?” – “Passwhat?”) In this case, the interrogative mirrors the grammatical gender of the noun one asks about.
- (someone): The colloquialwer 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.
- weer(Wiesemann spelling system)
FromMiddle High German andOld High Germanwer, fromProto-West Germanic*hwaʀ.
wer
- (interrogative)who
Wer kommd dart?- Who goes there?
Wer sihst-du?- Who do you see?
wer
- water
wer
- egg
- testicle
- star
FromOld Englishwer, fromProto-West Germanic*wer, fromProto-Germanic*weraz, fromProto-Indo-European*wiHrós; compareOld Norseverr,Latinvir,Old Prussianwijrs,Sanskritवीर(vīra).
wer (pluralwers)
- aman, ahusband
- wif(with respect to gender)
wer
- Alternative form ofwere
wer
- Alternative form ofwerre(“war”)
wer
- Alternative form ofwerre(“worse”)
wer
- Alternative form ofwerre(“worse”)
wer
- Alternative form ofwerre(“worse”)
wer
- Alternative form ofwyr(“wire”)
FromOld High Germanwer.
wër
- who
wer
- water
- Oceanic linguistics, volumes 20 à 21, University Press of Hawaii, page 129, 1981
wer
- so
FromProto-West Germanic*wer, fromProto-Germanic*weraz.
Germanic cognates includeOld Frisian,Old Saxon,Old High Germanwer,Old Norseverr,Gothic𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂(wair). TheIndo-European root is also the source ofLatinvir,Sanskritवीर(vīrà),Old Irishfer,Lithuanianvýras.
wer m
- man
10th century,The Wanderer:forþon ne mæġ wearþan wīs ·wer, ǣr hē āge
wintra dǣl in woruldrīċe. · Wita sċeal ġeþyldiġ.- thusa man cannot become wise, before he would own
a part of years in world-kingdom. A wise man must be patient.
- male
- husband
- (poetic)hero,warrior
- (in compounds)civil
- werrēaf ―civil dress, civil clothing
- werþēod ―people, nation
Stronga-stem:
FromProto-West Germanic*wari, fromProto-Germanic*warją. Cognate withOld Saxonwer,werr,Old High Germanwer,Old Norsever.
wer m
- weir
Stronga-stem:
FromProto-West Germanic*wer, fromProto-Germanic*weraz, fromProto-Indo-European*wiHrós. Cognate withOld Englishwer andOld Norseverr.
wer m
- man
FromProto-Germanic*warją, likely related to the verb*warjaną(“to defend”), as in a fortification against water.
wer n
- dam,weir
FromProto-West Germanic*hwaʀ, fromProto-Germanic*hwaz. Cognate withOld Norsehverr.
wer
- (interrogative) who
- 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 […]
FromProto-West Germanic*wer, fromProto-Germanic*weraz, fromProto-Indo-European*wiHrós. Cognate withOld Englishwer andOld Norseverr.
wer m
- man
- hero
Pennsylvania German
[edit]wer
- who
wer
- water
- Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary
(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)
wer ?
- hatred,enmity
wer
- Alternative form ofwere(“wearing”)
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published1867,page77
