were
/wə(ɹ)/ verb, noun
Also a form of be
- verb simple subjunctive of be “I wish that it were Sunday.”
- noun (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
Synonyms
Etymology
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.
Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).
Inherited from Middle English were, wer, see wer.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To wear. See 3d Wear. [Obs.] Chaucer.
- noun A weir. See Weir. [Obs.] Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney.
- verb To guard; to protect. [Obs.] Chaucer.
- The imperfect indicative plural, and imperfect subjunctive singular and plural, of the verb be. See Be.
Etymology [AS. werian.]
Etymology [AS. wre (thou) wast, w (we, you, they) were, w imp. subj. See Was.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “were”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details