vara

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese vara (rod), from Latin vāra (fork).

Noun[edit]

vara (plural varas)

  1. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of length, equivalent to about 83.7 cm.
    Synonyms: Spanish rod, Spanish ell, Spanish yard, (Spanish contexts) rod, ell, yard
    Coordinate terms: (18 vara) coto, (14 vara) palmo, (13 vara) pie, (12 vara) codo, (1+23 pies) Spanish pace, estado, braza, (2 varas) toesa, (4 varas) estadal, (50 varas) cordel, (5,000 varas) legua
  2. (historical) A traditional Portuguese unit of length, equivalent to about 1.1 m.
    Synonyms: Portuguese rod, Portuguese ell, Portuguese yard, (Portuguese contexts) rod, ell, yard
    Coordinate terms: (140 vara) polegada, (15 vara) palmo, (310 vara) Portuguese foot, (35 vara) covado, (English equivalents to the vara) yard, rod, ell, (1+12 varas) passo, (1+45 varas) toesa, (2 varas) braça
  3. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of area, equivalent to about 0.7 .
    Coordinate terms: (100 varas) fanega, (1,000,000 varas) labor

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Latin vāra (fork). Cognate with Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish vara.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara f (plural vares)

  1. (historical, measure) vara, a Spanish rod, ell, or yard, a traditional unit of length
    Coordinate terms: (13 vara) peu, (1+23 varas) pas, passa, (2 varas) braça

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Estonian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *warā-, compare Swedish vara, German Ware, English ware. Cognate to Finnish vara and Livonian varā.

Noun[edit]

vara (genitive vara, partitive vara)

  1. property, estate, goods; things belonging to a person or organisation
Inflection[edit]
Declension of vara (ÕS type 17/elu, no gradation)
singular plural
nominative vara varad
accusative nom.
gen. vara
genitive varade
partitive vara varasid
illative varra
varasse
varadesse
inessive varas varades
elative varast varadest
allative varale varadele
adessive varal varadel
ablative varalt varadelt
translative varaks varadeks
terminative varani varadeni
essive varana varadena
abessive varata varadeta
comitative varaga varadega
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Proto-Baltic *vāras, compare Lithuanian voras (old). Cognate to Finnish varhain.

Adverb[edit]

vara (comparative varem)

  1. early
    Antonym: hilja
Derived terms[edit]

Faroese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Low German waren.

Verb[edit]

vara (third person singular past indicative vardi, third person plural past indicative vart, supine vart)

  1. to take, last, require (about time)

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of vara (group v-1)
infinitive vara
supine vart
participle (a7)1 varandi vardur
present past
first singular vari vardi
second singular varir vardi
third singular varir vardi
plural vara vardu
imperative
singular var!
plural varið!
1Only the past participle being declined.

Fijian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Oceanic *paraq from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *para (compare with Ilocano pára).

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. coconut heart or coconut apple, i.e. spongy cotyledon from a sprouting coconut

References[edit]

  • Gatty, Ronald (2009), “vara”, in Fijian-English Dictionary, Suva, Fiji: Ronald Gatty, →ISBN, page 292
  • Ross, Malcolm D.; Pawley, Andrew; Osmond, Meredith (2008) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 3: Plants, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, pages 373-4

Finnish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *vara (compare Estonian vara), borrowed from Proto-Germanic *warō (compare Swedish vara (goods), vara (care), English ware (aware), aware, English ware (goods)).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋɑrɑ/, [ˈʋɑ̝rɑ̝]
  • Rhymes: -ɑrɑ
  • Syllabification(key): va‧ra

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. reserve, backup
    Mäyrä tarvitsee paksun rasvakerroksen talven varaksi.A badger needs a thick layer of fat as a reserve for winter.
    Minulla on ylimääräinen tulppa varalla.I have an extra plug as backup.
  2. (in the plural) (natural) resources, (natural) reserves
    Synonym: luonnonvarat
    Irakilla on suuret öljyvarat.Iraq has large oil reserves.
  3. (in the plural) stores, stocks, reserves
    Synonym: varasto
  4. (usually in the plural) funds, means, assets, savings
    Synonyms: rahat, maksukyky (literally ability to pay), (asset) varallisuus
    Minulla ei ole tähän varaa.I can't afford this. (literally, “I don't have the funds for this.”)
  5. (usually in the singular) room, margin; allowance
    Muista jättää kutistumisen varaa.Remember to leave an allowance for shrinking.
    Minulla ei ole varaa autoon.
    I can't afford a car.
    Meillä ei ole varaa virheisiin.We have no margin for errors.
  6. (mostly in idioms and proverbs) caution, concern, care; often translated into English with an adjective, see also pitää varansa
    Synonym: varovaisuus
    Pidä varasi, ettet putoa.Be careful so that you don't fall.
    Ei vara venettä kaada.Caution does not overturn a boat. (proverb)
  7. (woodworking) a tool for cutting long grooves into (the bottoms of) logs for fitting, or for drafting where the grooves will be cut
    Synonym: varausrauta

Declension[edit]

Inflection of vara (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative vara varat
genitive varan varojen
partitive varaa varoja
illative varaan varoihin
singular plural
nominative vara varat
accusative nom. vara varat
gen. varan
genitive varan varojen
varainrare
partitive varaa varoja
inessive varassa varoissa
elative varasta varoista
illative varaan varoihin
adessive varalla varoilla
ablative varalta varoilta
allative varalle varoille
essive varana varoina
translative varaksi varoiksi
abessive varatta varoitta
instructive varoin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of vara (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative varani varani
accusative nom. varani varani
gen. varani
genitive varani varojeni
varainirare
partitive varaani varojani
inessive varassani varoissani
elative varastani varoistani
illative varaani varoihini
adessive varallani varoillani
ablative varaltani varoiltani
allative varalleni varoilleni
essive varanani varoinani
translative varakseni varoikseni
abessive varattani varoittani
instructive
comitative varoineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative varasi varasi
accusative nom. varasi varasi
gen. varasi
genitive varasi varojesi
varaisirare
partitive varaasi varojasi
inessive varassasi varoissasi
elative varastasi varoistasi
illative varaasi varoihisi
adessive varallasi varoillasi
ablative varaltasi varoiltasi
allative varallesi varoillesi
essive varanasi varoinasi
translative varaksesi varoiksesi
abessive varattasi varoittasi
instructive
comitative varoinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative varamme varamme
accusative nom. varamme varamme
gen. varamme
genitive varamme varojemme
varaimmerare
partitive varaamme varojamme
inessive varassamme varoissamme
elative varastamme varoistamme
illative varaamme varoihimme
adessive varallamme varoillamme
ablative varaltamme varoiltamme
allative varallemme varoillemme
essive varanamme varoinamme
translative varaksemme varoiksemme
abessive varattamme varoittamme
instructive
comitative varoinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative varanne varanne
accusative nom. varanne varanne
gen. varanne
genitive varanne varojenne
varainnerare
partitive varaanne varojanne
inessive varassanne varoissanne
elative varastanne varoistanne
illative varaanne varoihinne
adessive varallanne varoillanne
ablative varaltanne varoiltanne
allative varallenne varoillenne
essive varananne varoinanne
translative varaksenne varoiksenne
abessive varattanne varoittanne
instructive
comitative varoinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative varansa varansa
accusative nom. varansa varansa
gen. varansa
genitive varansa varojensa
varainsarare
partitive varaansa varojaan
varojansa
inessive varassaan
varassansa
varoissaan
varoissansa
elative varastaan
varastansa
varoistaan
varoistansa
illative varaansa varoihinsa
adessive varallaan
varallansa
varoillaan
varoillansa
ablative varaltaan
varaltansa
varoiltaan
varoiltansa
allative varalleen
varallensa
varoilleen
varoillensa
essive varanaan
varanansa
varoinaan
varoinansa
translative varakseen
varaksensa
varoikseen
varoiksensa
abessive varattaan
varattansa
varoittaan
varoittansa
instructive
comitative varoineen
varoinensa

Derived terms[edit]

adjectives
adverbs
nouns
verbs
prefixes

Compounds[edit]

This table also contains terms prefixed with vara-.

compounds

Collocations[edit]

  • elää yli varojensato live beyond one's means
  • heittäytyä (+ genitive +) varaanto bank on, count on, depend on (literally, “to cast oneself on”)
  • jättää sattuman varaanto leave to chance/contingency
  • olla (+ genitive +) varassato rest on (physically), to rely/depend on (figuratively)
  • olla (+ genitive +) varoissaanto be wealthy, be well-to-do, be flush (literally, “to be in one's funds”)
  • olla varaa (+ illative; monopersonal, verb always in the third-person singular, subject in the adessive)to afford (literally, “to have funds”)
  • olla varallato be in reserve/store, be at hand, be (readily) available
  • rakentua (+ genitive +) varaanto be based on, be founded on, be grounded in
  • siltä varalta, että...in case...

Further reading[edit]

Galician[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Galician-Portuguese vara (rod) attested in the 13th century Cantigas de Santa Maria, from Latin vāra (fork). Cognate with Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish vara.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara f (plural varas)

  1. a long and thin stick, pole or rod
    Synonym: valoira
  2. shoot; twig
  3. (historical, measure) vara, especially as a cloth yard, a former unit of length
    Coordinate terms: (13 vara) , (1+23 varas) paso, (2 varas) braza
    • 1335, M. Lucas Álvarez, P. Lucas Domínguez, editors, El monasterio de San Clodio do Ribeiro en la Edad Media: estudio y documentos, Sada / A Coruña: Edicións do Castro, page 463:
      que den a uos Eluira Perez en uossa vida de tres en tres annos çinquo varas de valacyna noua ou os dineiros para ella, quantos ella custar enna tenda
      they should give you, Elvira Pérez, throughout your life each three years, five yards of new Valencian cloth or the money for them, whatever it costs in the store
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  • vara” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
  • vara” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
  • vara” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
  • vara” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
  • vara” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. inflection of varar:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Icelandic[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse vara.

Noun[edit]

vara f (genitive singular vöru, nominative plural vörur)

  1. article, commodity
  2. (in the plural form) goods, wares, freight, commodities, merchandise
Declension[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
plural form

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse vara, from Proto-Germanic *warōną.

Verb[edit]

vara (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative varaði, supine varað)

  1. (transitive, governs the accusative) to warn
    Synonym: gefa aðvörun
Conjugation[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle Low German waren (whence also Swedish vara, Norwegian vare, Danish vare), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀōn.

Verb[edit]

vara (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative varði, supine varað)

  1. (intransitive) to last, to continue, to go on
    Synonym: standa
    Hvað varir þetta lengi?How long will this last?
  2. (intransitive) to last, to endure, to be permanent
    Synonym: endast

Etymology 4[edit]

Verb[edit]

vara (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative varði, supine varað)

  1. (impersonal) to expect
    Gestirnir komu fyrr en mig varði.The guests arrived earlier than expected.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 5[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. indefinite genitive plural of var

Etymology 6[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. indefinite genitive plural of vör

Ingrian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *vara, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *waraz. Cognates include Finnish vara and Estonian vara.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. protection, safety
  2. property, possession
  3. alertness, awareness

Declension[edit]

Declension of vara (type 3/kana, no gradation, gemination)
singular plural
nominative vara varat
genitive varan varroin
partitive varraa varoja
illative varraa varroi
inessive varas varois
elative varast varoist
allative varalle varoille
adessive varal varoil
ablative varalt varoilt
translative varaks varoiks
essive varanna, varraan varoinna, varroin
exessive1) varant varoint
1) obsolete
*) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl)
**) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka? or -kä? to the genitive.

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 640

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈva.ra/
  • Rhymes: -ara
  • Hyphenation: và‧ra

Adjective[edit]

vara

  1. feminine singular of varo

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. inflection of varare:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams[edit]

Jamtish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse vera (to be), from Proto-Germanic *wesaną; see there for further details.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Western dialects) IPA(key): [²ʋæːɾɐ], [¹ʋæ]
  • (Hackås) IPA(key): [¹ʋæː]
  • (Ragunda) IPA(key): [²ʋæra][1]
  • (Fors) IPA(key): [²ʋaɾa]

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. to be

Declension[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Söderström, Sven. 1972. Om kvantitetsutvecklingen i norrländska folkmål. p. 27

Karelian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *vara, borrowed from Germanic.

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. reserve

Ladino[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Spanish vara, ultimately derived from Latin vāra.

Noun[edit]

vara f (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling ב׳ארה, plural varas)

  1. stick, rod, crossbar
  2. (diminutive form, typography) The rafe lines in the shape of crossbars that can be used in Ladino orthography as diacritics on Hebrew script to alter the sound of letters to create new letters; a breve diacritic (˘) is placed on top of letters to form fricative consonant sounds, such as changing פ (/p/) into פﬞ (/f/); usually referred to by the diminutive varrica (“little crossbar”).

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From the feminine of the adjective vārus, vāra, vārum (bent in; knock-kneed; different).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

vāra f (genitive vārae); first declension

  1. fork, forked branch
  2. tripod, easel

Declension[edit]

First-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative vāra vārae
Genitive vārae vārārum
Dative vārae vārīs
Accusative vāram vārās
Ablative vārā vārīs
Vocative vāra vārae

Descendants[edit]

  • Catalan: vara
  • Galician: vara
  • Portuguese: vara
  • Spanish: vara

Adjective[edit]

vāra

  1. inflection of vārus:
    1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
    2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

Adjective[edit]

vārā

  1. ablative feminine singular of vārus

Latvian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Etymology 1[edit]

See varš.

Noun[edit]

vara m

  1. genitive singular of varš

Etymology 2[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun[edit]

vara f (4th declension)

  1. power
Declension[edit]

Northern Sami[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. accusative/genitive singular of varra

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara m or f

  1. definite feminine singular of vare

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara m (definite singular varaen, indefinite plural varaer or varaar, definite plural varaene or varaane)

  1. clipping of vararepresentant

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

vara (present tense varar/varer, past tense vara/varte, past participle vara/vart, passive infinitive varast, present participle varande, imperative vara/var)

  1. alternative form of vare

Etymology 3[edit]

Verb[edit]

vara (present tense varar, past tense vara, past participle vara, passive infinitive varast, present participle varande, imperative vara/var)

  1. alternative form of vare

Noun[edit]

vara f

  1. definite singular of vare

Etymology 4[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara n

  1. definite plural of var

Etymology 5[edit]

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. (dialectal, nonstandard) alternative form of vera
    • 1949, Alf Prøysen, Dørstokken heme [The Doorstep at Home], Høvik, page 20:
      Nå kunde det vara det samma med alt.
      Now, it could be all the same [to him].

References[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Old Swedish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse vera, earlier vesa, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną. Cognate with Danish være, Icelandic vera.

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. To be
    1. to occupy a place, to be

Conjugation[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Pali[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

vara

  1. excellent
  2. noble

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara m or n

  1. wish, boon, favour

Declension[edit]

As the masculine or neuter of the adjective above, as appropriate.

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. second-person singular imperative active of varati (to desire)

References[edit]

Pali Text Society (1921–1925), “vara”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

Portuguese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

 
 

  • Rhymes: -aɾɐ
  • Hyphenation: va‧ra

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Galician-Portuguese vara (rod), from Latin vāra (fork). Cognate with Catalan, Galician, and Spanish vara.

Noun[edit]

vara f (plural varas)

  1. (historical, measure) vara, a Portuguese rod, yard or ell, a former unit of length about equal to 1.1 m
    Coordinate terms: (140 vara) polegada, (15 vara) palmo, (310 vara) , (35 vara) côvado, (English equivalent, reckoned as 56 vara) jarda, (1+12 vara) passo, (1+45 varas) toesa, (2 varas) braça
  2. (historical, measure) square vara, a former unit of area about equal to 1.2 m²
    Synonym: vara quadrada
    Coordinate terms: (125 vara) palmo, (403+13 varas) aguilhada, (4,840 varas) geira
  3. a stick, a twig
  4. a district court, an original court, a trial court or court of first instance
  5. (collective) herd of pigs
  6. (collective) band of coatis
  7. (vulgar, slang) the penis
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. inflection of varar:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading[edit]

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From vară +‎ -a.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

vara

  1. in the summer

Noun[edit]

vara f

  1. definite nominative/accusative singular of vară

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara (Cyrillic spelling вара)

  1. genitive singular of var

Verb[edit]

vara (Cyrillic spelling вара)

  1. third-person singular present of varati

Spanish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈbaɾa/ [ˈba.ɾa]
  • Rhymes: -aɾa
  • Syllabification: va‧ra

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin vāra (fork). Cognate with Catalan, Galician, and Portuguese vara.

Noun[edit]

vara f (plural varas)

  1. rod, pole (a long thin stick)
    Synonyms: palo, bastón, barra
  2. rod (a thin cane or branch)
    Synonym: rama
  3. rod (a staff of office)
  4. (bullfighting) lance
  5. (historical, measure) vara, a Spanish rod or yard (a traditional unit of length equivalent to about 83.7 cm)
    Coordinate terms: (18 vara) coto, (14 vara) palmo, (13 vara) pie, (12 vara) codo, (English equivalent) yarda, (1+23 varas) paso, (2 varas) estado, braza, toesa, (4 varas) estadal, (50 varas) cordel, (5,000 varas) legua
  6. (historical, measure) vara, a square vara (a traditional unit of area equivalent to about 0.7 m²)
    Synonym: vara cuadrada
    Coordinate terms: (100 varas) fanega, (10,000 varas) manzana
  7. yardstick (a straight-edge tool for measuring length)
  8. (figurative) yardstick (a standard used to establish a baseline for measurements or comparisons)
    Synonym: estándar
    • 2020 October 4, Franco Mizrahi, “La doble vara de la Corte Suprema de Justicia: los casos sensibles que posterga el máximo tribunal”, in El Destape[2]:
      La inusual celeridad con la que la Corte Suprema de Justicia abordó el caso de los jueces Leopoldo Bruglia, Pablo Bertuzi y Germán Castelli expuso la doble vara con la que el Tribunal Supremo toma o deja los expedientes que le llegan.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective[edit]

vara

  1. feminine singular of varo

Etymology 3[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb[edit]

vara

  1. inflection of varar:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /²vɑːra/, (verb, usually) /vɑː/
  • (file)
    • Pronunciation of the present tense form är usually varies between /eː/ and /ɛː/ depending on the accent. The pronunciation /ɛːr/, [æːɾ] also occurs, especially when it is stressed, in ceremonial speech, or increasingly also due to spelling pronunciation.
  • Rhymes: -²ɑːra, -ɑː

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Swedish vara, væra from Old Norse vera, earlier vesa, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną. Cognate with Danish være, Icelandic vera, Norwegian være.

Verb[edit]

vara (present är, preterite var, supine varit, imperative var)

  1. to be
    1. to occupy a place, to be (somewhere)
      Var har du varit?
      Where have you been?
      Synonyms: befinna sig, finnas, ligga, sitta, stå
    2. to occur, to take place
      Det var fest igår
      There was a party yesterday
    3. (uncommon) to exist
      • c. 1847, Carl August Hagberg, translation of Shakespeare's Hamlet (c. 1601), act 3, scene 1
        Att vara eller icke vara, det är frågan:
        Månn’ ädlare att lida och fördraga
        Ett bittert ödes styng och pilar eller
        Att ta till vapen mot ett haf af qval
        To be or not to be– that is the question:
        Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
        The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
        Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
      Att vara eller inte vara, det är frågan
      To be or not to be, that is the question
      Synonyms: finnas, finnas till, existera, vara till
    4. (copulative) Indicates that the subject and object are the same.
      Bruce Wayne är Batman
      Bruce Wayne is Batman
    5. (copulative, mathematics) Indicates that the values on either side of an equation are the same.
      ett plus ett är två
      one plus one is two
    6. (copulative) Indicates that the subject plays the role of or belongs to the group represented by the predicate nominal. This is idiomatically applied more broadly compared to English, as the examples below show. Including an article or making the noun definite – like in English – is not ungrammatical and does not change the meaning of the examples – it is only unidiomatic (and often intuitively redundant to native speakers, for example for giving a count of one (en/ett) to a role, similar to how "became a president" sounds to English speakers).
      Han blev president 2007
      He became president in 2007 (same in Swedish as in English)
      Hon är läkare
      She is a doctor
      Är hon bagare?
      Is she a baker?
      Han var soldat
      He was a soldier
      Han har varit löjtnant
      He has been a lieutenant
      Hon är lagkapten
      She is a/the team captain
      Han är frimurare
      He is a Freemason
      Han är filmfantast
      He is a movie buff
      Hon har blivit mamma
      She has become a mother
      Vem är far till barnen?
      Who is the father of the children?
      Vem är storasyster och vem är lillasyster?
      Who is the big sister and who is the little sister?
      att vara människa
      to be a human
      Hon är läkare, soldat och mamma på samma gång
      She is a doctor, a soldier, and a mother at the same time
      Hon är en skicklig läkare
      She is a skilled doctor ("Skilled doctor" is not considered a "role," so an article (en) appears in this example, like in English)
    7. (copulative) Connects a noun to an adjective that describes it.
      Såsen är krämig
      The sauce is creamy
      • 1917 translation, the Bible, Deuteronomy (Femte Mosebok), 1:26
        Men I villen icke draga ditupp, utan voren gensträviga mot Herrens, eder Guds, befallning.
        Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God.
    8. Forms a passive voice that indicates a state or a completed action. The examples below show comparisons against -s, which also forms the passive voice. The examples are kept basic for the sake of illustration and do not always represent the most idiomatic way to say things in neither Swedish nor English.
      Rummet städas
      The room is cleaned (is being cleaned right now (or, alternatively, is cleaned from time to time, as opposed to never being cleaned))
      Rummet är städat
      The room is clean ("is cleaned" in the sense of "has been cleaned")
      Rummet städas en gång i veckan
      The room is cleaned once a week
      Rummet är städat en gång i veckan
      The room is clean once a week (an unusual thing to say in Swedish as well)
      Huset målades förra veckan, så det var målat när jag gick förbi det för en timme sen
      The house was painted last week, so it was painted (had painted walls) when I walked past it an hour ago
      Vi räddades av en räddningshelikopter
      We were rescued by a rescue helicopter (a rescue helicopter came and rescued us)
      Vi var räddade
      We had been rescued ("We were rescued" in the sense of "We had (the property of having) been rescued" as opposed to "Someone came and rescued us" – "We were rescued" is used to express both in English, but Swedish separates them)
      Pojken räddades av hunden
      The boy was saved by the dog
      Pojken var räddad av hunden
      The boy had the property of having been saved by the dog (had at some earlier time been saved by the dog – odd-sounding in Swedish too)
      Pojken hade räddats av hunden
      The boy had been saved by the dog (for comparison – idiomatic-sounding)
      Bilen körs
      The car is driven (right now (or from time to time))
      Bilen är körd
      The car is driven (has been driven (in some context), has more than zero kilometers on the odometer (if talking generally))
      Synonyms: (when putting stress on the process) bli, (archaic, only still commonly used in the past tense form vart) varda
    9. (archaic) Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs.
      Jag är uppstigen sedan en timmeI have been out of bed for an hour
    10. Used to indicate things like age, height, temperature, weather, ...
Usage notes[edit]

Although the past subjunctive in most verbs is viewed as dated (see: Appendix:Swedish verbs), vore is still very much in use by young speakers, even in informal or colloquial language.

Conjugation[edit]
See also:
  • äm (archaic first person singular indicative)
  • äst (archaic second person singular indicative)
  • ären (archaic second person plural indicative)
  • voren (archaic second person past plural indicative)
Alternative forms[edit]
  • va (strongly colloquial)
Related terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

vara n

  1. existence, being
    Varats olidliga lätthetThe Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984 novel by Milan Kundera)
Declension[edit]
Declension of vara 
Uncountable
Indefinite Definite
Nominative vara varat
Genitive varas varats
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Swedish vara, from Middle Low German waren, from Old Saxon waron, from Proto-Germanic *warōną. Cognate with Danish vare.

Verb[edit]

vara (present varar, preterite varade, supine varat, imperative vara)

  1. to last (go on for)
    Synonyms: hålla på, pågå, (dated) fortfara
    Mötet varade flera timmar.
    The meeting lasted several hours.
  2. to last, to keep (not spoil)
    Synonyms: (more common) hålla, stå sig
    Mjölken varar längre i kylskåpet.
    The milk will last longer in the fridge.
Conjugation[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Old Swedish vara, from Old Norse vari, cognate with Danish vare, possibly from an unattested Old Swedish *vari (care), related to Icelandic vari (caution, carefullness), but influenced by Middle Low German ware namen, related to German wahren, wahrnehmen.

Noun[edit]

vara c

  1. care
    ta varatake care of, keep, not throw away, not waste
    ta sig till varabe careful, beware
Usage notes[edit]
  • Only used in expressions like the ones in the usage examples above.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

From Old Swedish vara, from Old Norse vara, from Middle Low German ware. Cognate with Danish vare, German Ware, English ware. Could be related to Sanskrit वर (vara, valuable).

Noun[edit]

vara c

  1. a ware, goods, article
Declension[edit]
Declension of vara 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative vara varan varor varorna
Genitive varas varans varors varornas
Related terms[edit]

Etymology 5[edit]

Attested since 1664. From var (pus) +‎ -a.

Verb[edit]

vara (present varar, preterite varade, supine varat, imperative vara)

  1. to generate pus
    Såret började vara efter några timmar.
    The wound began to fill with pus after a few hours.
Conjugation[edit]

References[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Veps[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *vara, borrowed from Germanic. Cognates include Finnish vara.

Noun[edit]

vara

  1. stock, store, inventory
  2. resource
  3. asset

Inflection[edit]

Inflection of vara (inflection type 5/sana)
nominative sing. vara
genitive sing. varan
partitive sing. varad
partitive plur. varoid
singular plural
nominative vara varad
accusative varan varad
genitive varan varoiden
partitive varad varoid
essive-instructive varan varoin
translative varaks varoikš
inessive varas varoiš
elative varaspäi varoišpäi
illative varaha varoihe
adessive varal varoil
ablative varalpäi varoilpäi
allative varale varoile
abessive varata varoita
comitative varanke varoidenke
prolative varadme varoidme
approximative I varanno varoidenno
approximative II varannoks varoidennoks
egressive varannopäi varoidennopäi
terminative I varahasai varoihesai
terminative II varalesai varoilesai
terminative III varassai
additive I varahapäi varoihepäi
additive II varalepäi varoilepäi

References[edit]