different between wear vs donning

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to clothe, cover over; put on, wear, use; stock (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *wa?jan, from Proto-Germanic *wazjan? (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress, put on (clothes)”).

Cognate to Sanskrit ????? (váste), Ancient Greek ?????? (hénnumi, “put on”), Latin vestis (“garment”) (English vest), Albanian vesh (“dress up, wear”), Tocharian B wäs-, Old Armenian ??????? (zgenum), Welsh gwisgo, Hittite ????????- (waš-).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /w??/
• (General American) enPR: w?r, IPA^(key): /w??(?)/, [w??], [w??]
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophones: ware, where (in accents with the wine-whine merger), were (some dialects)

Verb

wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past wore, past participle worn or (now colloquial and nonstandard) wore)

1. To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, etc.

   • It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
2. To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner.
3. To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance.

4. (colloquial, with "it") To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation.

5. To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.

6. (intransitive, copulative) To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use.
   • 1880, Benjamin Disraeli, Endymion

     The family that had raised it wore out in the earlier part of this century

7. To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.

   His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience.? Toil and care soon wear the spirit.? Our physical advantage allowed us to wear the other team out and win.

8. (intransitive) To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate.

9. (intransitive, colloquial) (in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience.

10. (intransitive, of time) To pass slowly, gradually or tediously.
11. (nautical) To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind. Also written "ware". Past: weared, or wore/worn.

    Synonym: gybe

Derived terms

Related terms

• vest

Translations

See also

• don
• put on

Noun

wear (uncountable)

1. (uncountable) (in combination) clothing

   footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear

2. (uncountable) damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time
   • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X

     Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.

3. (uncountable) fashion

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:wear.

Related terms

• wear and tear

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to guard, keep, defend; ward off, hinder, prevent, forbid; restrain; occupy, inhabit; dam up; discharge obligations on (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjan? (“to defend, protect, ward off”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).

Cognate with Scots wer, weir (“to defend, protect”), Dutch weren (“to aver, ward off”), German wehren (“to fight”), Swedish värja (“to defend, ward off”), Icelandic verja (“to defend”).

Alternative forms

• wer, weir (Scotland)

Verb

wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past weared or wore, past participle weared or worn)

1. (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.
2. (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To defend; protect.
3. (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.

   to wear the wolf from the sheep

4. (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.

Etymology 3

Noun

wear (plural wears)

1. Dated form of weir.

Anagrams

• -ware, Awre, Ware, arew, ware

English

Verb

donning

1. present participle of don