wer

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See also: wër and WER

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English wer, from Old English wer (a male being, man, husband, hero), from Proto-Germanic *weraz (man), from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (man, freeman). Cognate with Middle High German wër (man), Swedish värbror (brother-in-law), Norwegian verfader (father-in-law), Latin vir (man, husband).

Noun

wer (plural wers)

  1. (obsolete) A man.
  2. (obsolete) Wergeld.

Anagrams


Cornish

Adjective

wer

  1. Soft mutation of gwer.

German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis. Related to wo.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

wer

  1. (interrogative) who (what person or people)
    Wer hat das gesagt?Who said that?
  2. (interrogative, colloquial) what, which (one) (see usage notes)
  3. (relative) whoever, he who, someone who, the person who, anyone who (whatever person or persons)
    Wer eine Frage hat, kann sich jetzt melden.
    Whoever has a question, put up their hands now.
  4. (indefinite, colloquial) somebody, someone; anybody, anyone (an unspecified person)
    Da ist wer an der Tür. – There's somebody at the door.

Usage notes

  • (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?” – “Pass what?”) In this case, the interrogative mirrors the gender of the noun one asks about.
  • (someone): The colloquial wer 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.

Inflection

Synonyms

Coordinate terms


Hunsrik

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

wer

  1. (interrogative) who
    Wer kommd dart?
    Who goes there?
    Wer sihst-du?
    Who do you see?

See also

Further reading


Kurdish

Adverb

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  1. so

Kuri

Noun

wer

  1. water

References


Meriam

Noun

wer

  1. egg
  2. testicle
  3. star

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós; compare Old Norse verr, Latin vir, Old Prussian wijrs, Sanskrit वीर (vīra).

Pronunciation

Noun

wer (plural wers)

  1. a man, a husband
Descendants
  • English: wer, were

Etymology 2

From Old English wǣre.

Verb

wer

  1. Alternative form of were

Etymology 3

From Late Old English werre, wyrre (war).

Noun

wer

  1. Alternative form of werre (war)

Ndom

Noun

wer

  1. water

References

  • Oceanic linguistics, volumes 20 à 21, University Press of Hawaii, page 129, 1981

Old English

Alternative forms

  • wær
  • ƿerwynn spelling

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (freeman). Germanic cognates include Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old High German wer, Old Norse verr, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂 (wair). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Latin vir, Sanskrit वीर (vīrá), Old Irish fer, Welsh gŵr), Lithuanian výras.

Noun

wer m

  1. man
    werwulfwerewolf (literally, “man-wolf”)
  2. husband
  3. (poetic) hero, warrior
  4. wergild (legal monetary equivalent of a man's life, to be paid in restitution for killing a man)
    werborga pledge to satisfy a wergild
    werfǣhþbreach of the peace, feud leading to payment of wergild
  5. (in compounds) civil
    werrēafcivil dress, civil clothing
    werþēodpeople, folk, nation
Declension
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Middle English: wer

Etymology 2

From werian.

Noun

wer m (nominative plural weras)

  1. weir

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Cognate with Old English wer and Old Norse verr.

Noun

wer m

  1. man
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *warją

Noun

wer n

  1. dam, weir

Descendants


Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Cognate with Old English wer and Old Norse verr.

Noun

wer m

  1. man
  2. hero

Declension


Derived terms

Descendants


Selaru

Noun

wer

  1. water

References

  • Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary

Tocharian B

Noun

wer

  1. hatred, enmity