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)
Related terms
Anagrams
Cornish
Adjective
wer
- Soft mutation of gwer.
German
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis. Related to wo.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
wer
- (interrogative) who (what person or people)
- Wer hat das gesagt? – Who said that?
- (interrogative, colloquial) what, which (one) (see usage notes)
- (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.
- (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
Related terms
Hunsrik
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
wer
- (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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Kuri
Noun
wer
References
- Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 123
Meriam
Noun
wer
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)
Related terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Old English wǣre.
Verb
wer
- Alternative form of were
Etymology 3
From Late Old English werre, wyrre (“war”).
Noun
wer
- Alternative form of werre (“war”)
Ndom
Noun
wer
References
- Oceanic linguistics, volumes 20 à 21, University Press of Hawaii, page 129, 1981
Old English
Alternative forms
- wær
- ƿer — wynn 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
- man
- werwulf ― werewolf (literally, “man-wolf”)
- husband
- (poetic) hero, warrior
- wergild (legal monetary equivalent of a man's life, to be paid in restitution for killing a man)
- (in compounds) civil
Declension
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
From werian.
Noun
wer m (nominative plural weras)
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
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *warją
Noun
wer n
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
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | wer | weros |
accusative | wer | weros |
genitive | weres | werō |
dative | were | werum |
instrumental | — | — |
Derived terms
Descendants
Selaru
Noun
wer
References
- Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary
Tocharian B
Noun
wer
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- Cornish non-lemma forms
- Cornish mutated adjectives
- Cornish soft-mutation forms
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German terms with homophones
- Rhymes:German/eːɐ̯
- German lemmas
- German pronouns
- German interrogative pronouns
- German relative pronouns
- German colloquialisms
- German terms with usage examples
- Hunsrik terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Hunsrik terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Hunsrik terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Hunsrik terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Hunsrik 1-syllable words
- Hunsrik terms with IPA pronunciation
- Hunsrik lemmas
- Hunsrik pronouns
- Hunsrik terms with usage examples
- Kuri lemmas
- Kuri nouns
- Meriam lemmas
- Meriam nouns
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English non-lemma forms
- Middle English verb forms
- enm:Male
- enm:Marriage
- enm:People
- Ndom lemmas
- Ndom nouns
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English lemmas
- Old English nouns
- Old English masculine nouns
- Old English terms with usage examples
- Old English poetic terms
- Old English masculine a-stem nouns
- Old High German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old High German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old High German terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Old High German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old High German lemmas
- Old High German nouns
- Old High German masculine nouns
- Old High German neuter nouns
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old Saxon lemmas
- Old Saxon nouns
- Old Saxon masculine nouns
- Old Saxon a-stem nouns
- Selaru lemmas
- Selaru nouns
- Tocharian B lemmas
- Tocharian B nouns