vars

See also: vårs, varš, and vars.

English

Noun

vars

1. plural of var

Anagrams

• ARVs, VRSA, ravs

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Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch vers.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fars/

Adjective

vars (attributive varse, comparative varser, superlative varste)

1. fresh

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Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *varci. Cognate with Finnish varsi.

Noun

vars (genitive varre, partitive vart)

1. stalk
2. shaft

Inflection

Inflection of vars (ÕS type 14/uus, rd/rt-rr-rs gradation)

	singular	plural
nominative	vars	varred
accusative	varre	varred
genitive	varre	varte
partitive	vart	varsi
illative	varde varresse	vartesse varsisse
inessive	varres	vartes varsis
elative	varrest	vartest varsist
allative	varrele	vartele varsile
adessive	varrel	vartel varsil
ablative	varrelt	vartelt varsilt
translative	varreks	varteks varsiks
terminative	varreni	varteni
essive	varrena	vartena
abessive	varreta	varteta
comitative	varrega	vartega

Derived terms

• käsivars

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Icelandic

Noun

vars

1. indefinite genitive singular of var

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Latgalian

Noun

vars m

1. copper

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Romanian

Verb

vars

1. first-person singular present indicative of vărsa
2. first-person singular present subjunctive of vărsa

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Swedish

Etymology 1

From an older interrogative adverb hvarest (“whereto, whither”), see varest, from Old Swedish hvaris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɑːrs/, [vɑːʂ]

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /vars/, [vaʂ]

Adverb

vars

1. (dialectal, Northern Sweden) where
   • 2018, “Gräset är inte alltid grönare”, in Norrbottens-Kuriren:

     Kollegor och vänner blir helt plötsligt även de omedvetna hetsare genom frågor som: 'Jaha, å vars ska ni åka på semestern i år?'

     Colleagues and friends all of a sudden also unconsciously become stress causes through questions such as: 'Well, where are you going on holiday this year?'

Usage notes

• Used both with motion and direction, where standard Swedish would use var and vart, respectively.

Etymology 2

Clipping of bevars, itself a contraction of (Gud) bevare oss (”may God save us”), from the present subjunctive of bevara (“to save, to keep”), and oss (“us”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vars/, [vaʂ]

Interjection

vars

1. (colloquial) Added to an answering interjection to signify that the answer does not have full validity
   • 2012, Guus Kuijer, “Konsten är ett annat sätt att förstå”, in Jacob Roël, transl., Svenska Dagbladet‎^[1]:

     ’Och?’ undrade den gamle mannen. ’Har du förstått ett och annat då?’ ’Jo vars’, sa Jonathan.

     ’And?’ the old man wondered. ’Have you understood a thing or two then?’ ’Yes, you could say that, Jonathan said.

Etymology 3

See main entry var.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɑːrs/, [vɑːʂ]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

vars

1. indefinite genitive plural of var
2. indefinite genitive singular of var

Etymology 4

• (relative pronoun) From Old Swedish hvars, genitive of hvar (“which, every”).
• (distributive pronoun) From a reanalysis of varsin, varsitt (“one each”) (from var +‎ sin, sitt) as consisting of vars + en, ett (“one”) and then expanded to further numerals, e.g. vars två (”two each”), standard Swedish två var.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (relative pronoun, distributive pronoun) /vɑːrs/, [vɑːʂ], [vɑːʁs]

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): (relative pronoun) /vars/, [vaʂ]

Pronoun

vars

1. (relative pronoun) whose (of whom)
   • 2015, Stieg Larsson, Män som hatar kvinnor:

     Telefonen ägdes av en Margot Lundmark, vars mor faktiskt hette Magda och stundom brukade jobba extra i butiken.

     The telephone was owned by a Margot Lundmark, whose mother’s name in fact was Magda and who sometimes worked part-time in the shop.

2. (distributive pronoun, dialectal, Scania) each
   • 2004, Mikael Bergstrand, “Ta barnen på allvar i alla lägen”, in Sydsvenskan‎^[2]:

     Hans eventuella brott består i att han för drygt ett år sedan ålade elva unga trädvandaler från Videdalsskolan i Malmö att göra rätt för sig genom att återställa skadan, plantera nya träd och dessutom pröjsa vars tre hundralappar till gatukontoret.

     His possible crime consists in the fact that, just over a year ago, he ordered eleven young tree vandals from the Videdal school in Malmö to do the right thing by repairing the damage, planting new trees and also paying three hundred kronor each to the roadworks department.

Usage notes

• Not used as an interrogative pronoun, in which case vems (singular) or vilkas (plural) is used.
• The use of vars with a plural referent was earlier proscribed in favour of vilkas, but is now accepted, e.g.:
  • 2018, “Granskning: Gapet mellan grundskolor ökar”, in Svenska Dagbladet‎^[3]:

    På de skolor där antalet behöriga lärare har minskat går många elever vars föräldrar inte är högutbildade.

    Many pupils whose parents are not highly educated attend schools where the number of qualified teachers has decreased.

References

• vars in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• vars in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• Vars. Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore. 21 October 2013.

Anagrams

• arvs, sarv, svar