wesan

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-.

Verb

wesan

1. to be

Inflection

Conjugation of wesan, sīn (irregular, suppletive)

infinitive	wesan, sīn
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	bim, bin	was
2nd person singular	bis, bist	wāri
3rd person singular	is, ist	was
1st person plural	sīn	wārun
2nd person plural	sīt	wārut
3rd person plural	sint, sīn	wārun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	sī	wāri
2nd person singular	sīs, sīst	wāris, wārist
3rd person singular	sī	wāri
1st person plural	sīn	wārin
2nd person plural	sīt	wārit
3rd person plural	sīn	wārin
imperative	present
singular	wis
plural	wisit
participle	present	past
	wesandi	geweson

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: wēsen
  • Dutch: wezen
    • Afrikaans: wees
    • Jersey Dutch: wêze
    • Negerhollands: wees, wis
  • Limburgish: waeze

Further reading

• “wesan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

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Old English

Alternative forms

• wosa
• ƿesan — wynn spelling

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. The simple present forms originate from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”), which had no infinitive or past tense in Proto-Germanic, but had already formed a single paradigm with *wesaną supplying the infinitive and past tense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwe.sɑn/, [ˈwe.zɑn]

Verb

wesan

1. to be, exist

Usage notes

The verb “to be” in Old English was suppletive, and used forms from at least three different roots. There were two distinct present stems, for which wesan and bēon were the two infinitive forms. The present bēon was used to express permanent truths (the “gnomic present”), while wesan was used for the present participle and the preterite. They both shared the same past tense forms.

Conjugation

Conjugation of wesan (irregular)

infinitive	wesan	wesenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	eom	wæs
second person singular	eart	wǣre
third person singular	is	wæs
plural	sind, sindon	wǣron
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	sīe	wǣre
plural	sīen	wǣren
imperative
singular	wes
plural	wesaþ
participle	present	past
	wesende	—

Synonyms

• sēon

Derived terms

• ætwesan (“to be present”)
• forewesan (“to be before”)
• ġewesan (“to be together”)
• wist (“being”)

Descendants

• Middle English: been (partly)
  • English: be (present am, art, are, is, past was, were, wert)
  • Scots: be (partly)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *wōsijaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈweː.sɑn/, [ˈweː.zɑn]

Verb

wēsan

1. to soak; to macerate; to dye
2. to ooze

Conjugation

Conjugation of wēsan (weak class 1)

infinitive	wēsan	wēsenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	wēse	wēsde
second person singular	wēsest, wēst	wēsdest
third person singular	wēseþ, wēst	wēsde
plural	wēsaþ	wēsdon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	wēse	wēsde
plural	wēsen	wēsden
imperative
singular	wēs
plural	wēsaþ
participle	present	past
	wēsende	(ġe)wēsed

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Old High German

Alternative forms

• sīn (less common infinitive, but spreading)

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-.

Verb

wesan

1. to be, exist

Conjugation

Conjugation of wesan (irregular, suppletive)

infinitive	wesan
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	bim, bin	was
2nd person singular	bist, bis	wāri
3rd person singular	ist	was
1st person plural	birum, birun	wārum, wārumēs
2nd person plural	birut	wārut
3rd person plural	sint	wārun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	sī	wāri
2nd person singular	sīs, sīst	wārīs, wārīst
3rd person singular	sī	wāri
1st person plural	sīn	wārīm, wārīmēs
2nd person plural	sīt	wārīt
3rd person plural	sīn	wārīn
imperative	present
singular	wis
plural	wesit
participle	present	past
	wesanti	giwesan

Descendants

• German: sein (all forms); Wesen

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Old Saxon

Synonyms

• sīn (rare infinitive)

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. The forms in b- derive from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to grow, become, appear”).

Verb

wesan

1. to be

Conjugation

Conjugation of wesan (irregular, suppletive)

infinitive	wesan
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	bium, biun, bion	was
2nd person singular	bist, bis	*wāri
3rd person singular	ist, is	was
plural	sind, sindun, sindon, sundon	wārun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	sī	wāri
2nd person singular	sīs	wāris
3rd person singular	sī, wese	wāri
plural	sīn	wārin
imperative	present
singular	wes, wis
plural	wesad, wesat, wesath
participle	present	past
	wesandi	giwesan

Descendants

• Middle Low German: wēsen
  • Dutch Low Saxon: waen
  • German Low German: wesen, ween

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Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English white sand.

Noun

wesan

1. sand

Related terms

• nambis