wer

See also: wër and WER

English

Alternative forms

• were

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”), Old Irish fer, Middle Welsh gwr.

Noun

wer (plural wers)

1. (obsolete) A man.
2. (obsolete) Wergeld.
   • 1895, Frederick Pollock; Frederic William Maitland, “Inheritance”, in The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At the University Press; Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, & Company, OCLC 78010698, § 1 (Antiquities), page 239:

     It was so in the England of Alfred's day; the maternal kinsfolk paid a third of the wer. The Leges Henrici, which about such a matter will not be inventing new rules, tell us that the paternal kinsfolk pay and receive two-thirds, the maternal kinsfolk one-third of the wer; and this is borne out by other evidence.

Related terms

• werewolf
• wergeld
• world

Anagrams

• Rew, erw, rew

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Cornish

Adjective

wer

1. Soft mutation of gwer.

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German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis. Related to wo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːɐ̯/, /vɛɐ̯/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: Wehr
• Rhymes: -eːɐ̯

Pronoun

wer

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

   Wer hat das gesagt? – Who said that?

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)

   Wer eine Frage hat, kann sich jetzt melden.

   Whoever has a question, put up their hands now.

4. (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

• N: wer
• G: wessen – obsolete, poetic: wes
• D: wem
• A: wen

Synonyms

• (indefinite, colloquial): jemand, einer

Coordinate terms

• was

Related terms

• irgendwer
• wer da
• Werdaruf
• Werfall
• Wemfall
• Wenfall

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Hunsrik

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛɐ̯/

Pronoun

wer

1. (interrogative) who

   Wer kommd dart?

   Who goes there?

   Wer sihst-du?

   Who do you see?

See also

• wem

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

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Kurdish

Adverb

wer

1. so

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Kuri

Noun

wer

1. water

References

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

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Meriam

Noun

wer

1. egg
2. testicle
3. star

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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

• IPA^(key): /wɛr/

Noun

wer (plural wers)

1. a man, a husband

Related terms

• werwolf
• world

Antonyms

• wif (with respect to gender)

Descendants

• English: wer, were

Etymology 2

From Old English wǣre.

Verb

wer

1. Alternative form of were

Etymology 3

From Late Old English werre, wyrre (“war”).

Noun

wer

1. Alternative form of werre (“war”)

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Ndom

Noun

wer

1. water

References

• Oceanic linguistics, volumes 20 à 21, University Press of Hawaii, page 129, 1981

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Old English

Alternative forms

• wær
• ƿer – wynn spelling

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 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

1. man

   werwulf ― werewolf (literally, “man-wolf”)

2. husband
3. (poetic) hero, warrior
4. wergild (legal monetary equivalent of a man's life, to be paid in restitution for killing a man)

   werborg ― a pledge to satisfy a wergild

   werfǣhþ ― breach of the peace, feud leading to payment of wergild

5. (in compounds) civil

   werrēaf ― civil dress, civil clothing

   werþēod ― people, folk, nation

Declension

Declension of wer (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	wer	weras
accusative	wer	weras
genitive	weres	wera
dative	were	werum

Antonyms

• wif (with respect to gender)

Derived terms

• weorold
• werġield
• werlīċ
• werwulf

 

Descendants

• Middle English: wer
  • English: wer

Etymology 2

From werian.

Noun

wer m (nominative plural weras)

1. weir

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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

1. man

Derived terms

• weralt
• werwulf

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *warją

Noun

wer n

1. dam, weir

Descendants

• German: Wehr
• Italian: gora

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Old Saxon

Etymology

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

Declension of wer (masculine a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	wer	weros
accusative	wer	weros
genitive	weres	werō
dative	were	werum
instrumental	—	—

Derived terms

• werold
• werwulf

Descendants

• warwulf
• werld

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Selaru

Noun

wer

1. water

References

• Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary

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Tocharian B

Noun

wer

1. hatred, enmity