different between wer vs werk

English

Alternative forms

• were

Etymology

From Middle English wer, were, 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”), Old Irish fer, Middle Welsh gwr. The original meaning of “man” is now preserved only in compounds like werewolf, were wolf (“man-wolf”) and wergeld, were gild (“man gold (payment)”).

Noun

wer (plural wers)

1. (obsolete or historical) A man; a male; a husband
   • 1862, E. William Robertson, Scotland Under Her Early Kings, page 137:

     […] the character of a horseman was inseparable connected with the knight—the military attendant of the baron, who was himself nothing more than the Wer, or Man, of the king—even the armiger, […]

   • 1864, Thomas Oswald Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England [...] from Brit. mus. ms. Cotton. Vitellius C. III, page 205:

     Further is this wort of two kinds, wer and wife, or male and female. The wer, or male, hath white blossoms, and the wife, or female, hath red or brown; either is beneficial and wonderlike, and they have on them wondrous virtue.

2. (obsolete or historical) A fine for slaying a man; wergeld.
   • 1876, Essays in Anglo-Saxon Law, page 144:

     Under the system of money compensation, the kindred of the slain must demand payment of the wer, or prosecute the feud. They had the right to the wer when paid, and must by oath release the slayer and his kindred from the feud.

Related terms

Anagrams

• ERW, Rew, erw, rew

Cornish

Adjective

wer

1. Soft mutation of gwer.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wer, from Old High German wer, from Proto-West Germanic *hwa?. Related to wo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve?r/, [ve???], [v???], [?-]
• Homophone: Wehr
• Rhymes: -e???

Pronoun

wer

1. (interrogative) who (what person or people)

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)

4. (indefinite, colloquial) somebody, someone; anybody, anyone (an unspecified person)

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.

Declension

• N: wer
• G: wessen (now poetic wes)
• D: wem
• A: wen

Synonyms

• (indefinite, colloquial): jemand, einer

Coordinate terms

• was

Derived terms

Further reading

• “wer” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) , “wer”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *k?is.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?v???/

Pronoun

wer

1. (interrogative) who

See also

• wem

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Kuri

Noun

wer

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 123

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 ??? (v?ra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?r/

Noun

wer (plural wers)

1. a man, a husband

Synonyms

• husbonde, mon

Related terms

• werwolf
• world

Antonyms

• wif (with respect to gender)

Descendants

• English: wer, were

Etymology 2

From Old English w?re.

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

Northern Kurdish

Adverb

wer

1. so

Old English

Alternative forms

• wær

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wer/

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 ???????????????? (wair). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Latin vir, Sanskrit ??? (v?rá), Old Irish fer, Welsh g?r), Lithuanian výras.

Noun

wer m

1. man
2. husband
3. (poetic) hero, warrior
4. (in compounds) civil

Declension

Synonyms

• (man): beorn (poetic), guma (poetic), hæleþ, mann (rare or non-literary), mæ??, rinc (poetic), se?? (poetic)

Antonyms

• wif (with respect to gender)

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle English: wer
  • English: wer, were

Etymology 2

From werian.

Noun

wer m (nominative plural weras)

1. weir

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *wer, 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

• weralt
• werwulf

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *warj?

Noun

wer n

1. dam, weir

Descendants

• German: Wehr
• Italian: gora

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wer, 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

• werold
• werwulf

Descendants

• warwulf
• werld

Selaru

Noun

wer

1. water

References

• Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary

Tocharian B

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

wer ?

1. hatred, enmity

English

Noun

werk (plural werks)

1. Obsolete form of work.

Anagrams

• w**ker

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???rk/

Etymology 1

From Dutch werk, from Old Dutch *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werk?, from Proto-Indo-European *wér?om.

Noun

werk (plural werke, diminutive werkie)

1. work

Derived terms

• werkboek

Etymology 2

From Dutch werken, from Middle Dutch werken, from Old Dutch wirken, wirkon (“to work, make”), from Proto-Germanic *wirkijan? (“to work, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer?-, *wre?- (“to work, act”).

Verb

werk (present werk, present participle werkende, past participle gewerk)

1. work

Related terms

• werker

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??rk/
• Hyphenation: werk
• Rhymes: -?rk

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch werc, from Old Dutch *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werk?, from Proto-Indo-European *wér?om.

Noun

werk n (plural werken, diminutive werkje n)

1. A task, job, chore.

   Het werk dat moest gebeuren, is voltooid. — The thing that must be done is finished.

2. A profession, job, employment, line of work.

   Het werk van Hans is buschauffeur. — The profession of Hans is bus driver.

3. A workplace

   Hans kwam vandaag te laat aan op het werk. — Today Hans arrived to the workplace too late.

4. A product, creation; production, output, result of work.

   Het werk van Magritte zal op de veiling verkocht worden. — The work of Magritte will be sold by auction.

5. (dialectal) tow, oakum

   Synonym: hede

Synonyms

• arbeid

Derived terms

- output, product(ion)

Related terms

• werken

Descendants

• Afrikaans: werk

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

werk

1. first-person singular present indicative of werken
2. imperative of werken

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wirk, work

Etymology

From Old English weorc. See English work for more.

Noun

werk (plural werks)

1. work
2. sexual intercourse
   • 1422, James Yonge (translator), Secretum Secretorum:

References

• “werk, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *werk?, whence also Old High German werc, Old Norse verk.

Noun

werk n

1. work

Declension

Scots

Noun

werk (plural werkis)

1. Obsolete form of wirk (“work”).

References

• “wirk” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.