different between were vs vere

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English were, weren, from Old English w?re, w?ron, w?ren, from Proto-Germanic *w?z-, from Proto-Indo-European *h?wes-. More at was.

Pronunciation

stressed

• (UK) enPR: wûr, IPA^(key): /w??(?)/
• (UK, regional) enPR: wâr, IPA^(key): /w??(?)/
• (US) enPR: wûr, IPA^(key): /w?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

unstressed

• (UK) enPR: w?r, IPA^(key): /w?(?)/
• (US) enPR: w?r, IPA^(key): /w?/

Verb

were

1. second-person singular simple past indicative of be

2. first/second/third-person plural simple past indicative of be

3. first/second/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive of be

   I wish that it were Sunday.

   I wish that I were with you.

   • with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause:

     Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...)

     Were father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...)
4. (Northern England) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.

Synonyms

• (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with “thou”)
• (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with “thou”)

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English were, wer, see wer.

Noun

were (plural weres)

1. Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)
   • 1799-1805, Sharon Trurner, History of the Anglo-Saxons

     Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.

   • 1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History [...] arranged [...] by T. Young, page 19:

     If by that he failed to pay or give security for the were, or fine, at which murder was legally rated; he might be put to death by the relatives of the murdered man.

   • 1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:

     Written statutes busied themselves only with the amount of the were, or fine, or (for the first century after the Conquest) with the method of procedure.

Etymology 3

Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).

Noun

were (plural weres)

1. (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.

Anagrams

• Ewer, ewer, ewre, rewe, weer

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e?r?

Verb

were

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of weren

Anagrams

• weer

Fijian

Noun

were

1. garden

Verb

were (wereca)

1. to garden, to weed (wereca specifically)

Irarutu

Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H?O)

Further reading

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

Maku'a

Noun

were

1. water

References

• Aone van Engelenhoven, The position of Makuva among the Austronesian languages of Southwest Maluku and East Timor, in Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift, Pacific linguistics 601 (2009)

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English w?re (second-person singular indicative and subjunctive past of wesan).

Alternative forms

• weer, weere, wer, wære

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w??r(?)/, /?w?r(?)/

Verb

were

1. inflection of been:
   1. second-person singular indicative past
   2. singular subjunctive past

Descendants

• English: were (dialectal war, ware)
• Scots: war, waar, ware, waur, wur, wir

Etymology 2

From a conflation of Old English w?ron and Old English w?ren.

Verb

were

1. Alternative form of weren

Etymology 3

From Old English werre, wyrre.

Noun

were

1. Alternative form of werre

Mwani

Noun

were 5 (plural mawere)

1. breast

Northern Kurdish

Verb

were

1. second-person singular imperative of hatin

Onin

Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H?O)

Tocharian B

Noun

were ?

1. smell, odor, scent, aroma

Toro

Noun

were

1. day

References

• Roger Blench, The Toro language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2012)

Uruangnirin

Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wai?, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahi?.

Noun

were

1. water (clear liquid H?O)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e?r?

Verb

vere

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of veren

Anagrams

• erve, ever, veer, vree

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Adverb

vere

1. truly

Related terms

• vera
• vero

Estonian

Noun

vere

1. genitive singular of veri

Ido

Etymology

From vera +? -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?v?.r?/, /?ve.re/

Adverb

vere

1. truly

Related terms

• vera
• vereso

Ingrian

Etymology

Akin to Finnish virhe.

Noun

vere

1. fault

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ere

Adjective

vere

1. feminine plural of vero

Noun

vere f pl

1. plural of vera

Latin

Etymology 1

v?rus (“true”) +? -? (adverb formant)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?u?e?.re?/, [?u?e??e?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ve.re/, [?v????]

Adverb

v?r? (comparative v?rius, superlative v?rissim?)

1. truly, verily
   • 4th century, St Jerome, Vulgate, Luke 21:3

     et dixit vere dico vobis quia vidua haec pauper plus quam omnes misit (And he said: Verily, I say to you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all.)

Synonyms

• (truly): v?rum, v?r?

References

• vere in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• vere in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vere in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?u?e?.re/, [?u?e???]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ve.re/, [?v????]

Adjective

v?re

1. vocative masculine singular of v?rus

Etymology 3

From v?r (“spring”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?u?e?.re/, [?u?e???]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ve.re/, [?v????]

Noun

v?re n

1. ablative singular of v?r

Leonese

Etymology

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

Verb

vere

1. to see

References

• AEDLL

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Verb

vere (present tense er, past tense var, past participle vore, passive infinitive verast, present participle verande, imperative ver)

1. alternative form of vera

Etymology 2

Verb

vere (present tense verar, past tense vera, past participle vera, passive infinitive verast, present participle verande, imperative ver)

1. alternative form of vêra

Romanian

Noun

vere

1. vocative of v?r (“male cousin”)
2. plural of var? (“female cousin”)

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

vere (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. third-person plural present of veriti