Wehr

See also: wehr

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːɐ̯/
• Homophone: wer
• Rhymes: -eːɐ̯

Etymology 1

From Middle High German were, from Old High German werī, from Proto-Germanic *warīniz, derived from *warjaną, whence German wehren. Cognate with Dutch weer and Swedish värn.

Noun

Wehr f (genitive Wehr, plural Wehren)

1. (archaic, except in compounds and idioms) resistance; defence; also in the sense of defenders; guard
2. (informal, regional) Short for Feuerwehr.

Declension

Declension of Wehr [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Wehr	die	Wehren
genitive	einer	der	Wehr	der	Wehren
dative	einer	der	Wehr	den	Wehren
accusative	eine	die	Wehr	die	Wehren

Derived terms

• Bundeswehr
• Bürgerwehr
• Feuerwehr
• Landwehr
• Reichswehr
• Wehrdienst
• wehrlos
• Wehrmacht
• Wehrpflicht
• zur Wehr setzen

 

Etymology 2

From northern Middle High German wer, were, borrowed from Middle Low German wēr, wēre, from Old Saxon wer. Derived from Proto-Germanic *warjaną as in etymology 1, and sometimes thought to have been originally the same word. Compare English weir.

Noun

Wehr n (strong, genitive Wehres or Wehrs, plural Wehre)

1. weir
2. barrage

Declension

Declension of Wehr [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Wehr	die	Wehre
genitive	eines	des	Wehres, Wehrs	der	Wehre
dative	einem	dem	Wehr, Wehre1	den	Wehren
accusative	ein	das	Wehr	die	Wehre

¹Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

• “Wehr” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Wehr” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Wehr” in Duden online
• Wehr on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de