eldertongue

Old English · adjective

wær

Part of speech
adjective
IPA
/wær/
Syllables
wær (1 syllable)
Modern English
cautiouscorrectbewarewatchingon guardwatching outfaithtrue

wær1 · adjective

Senses

  1. cautious, on guard, watching out for something (+genitive)

Declension

Strong declension of wær
MasculineFeminineNeuter
Singular
Nominative wærwaruwarowær
Accusative wærnewarewær
Genitive wareswærrewares
Dative warumwærrewarum
Instrumental warewærreware
Plural
Nominative warewarawarewaruwaro
Accusative warewarawarewaruwaro
Genitive wærrawærrawærra
Dative warumwarumwarum
Instrumental warumwarumwarum
Weak declension of wær
MasculineFeminineNeuter
Singular
Nominative warawareware
Accusative waranwaranware
Genitive waranwaranwaran
Dative waranwaranwaran
Instrumental waranwaranwaran
Plural
Nominative waranwaranwaran
Accusative waranwaranwaran
Genitive wærrawarenawærrawarenawærrawarena
Dative warumwarumwarum
Instrumental warumwarumwarum

wær2 · adjective

Senses

  1. true, correct

    Iċ ġelȳfe þæt hit from Gode cōme, brōht from his bysene, þæs mē þes boda sæġde wǣrum wordum.

    I believe that it came from God, brought from His example, for this messenger told me in true words.

Declension

Strong declension of wær
MasculineFeminineNeuter
Singular
Nominative wǣrwǣrwǣr
Accusative wǣrnewǣrewǣr
Genitive wǣreswǣrrewǣres
Dative wǣrumwǣrrewǣrum
Instrumental wǣrewǣrrewǣre
Plural
Nominative wǣrewǣrawǣrewǣr
Accusative wǣrewǣrawǣrewǣr
Genitive wǣrrawǣrrawǣrra
Dative wǣrumwǣrumwǣrum
Instrumental wǣrumwǣrumwǣrum
Weak declension of wær
MasculineFeminineNeuter
Singular
Nominative wǣrawǣrewǣre
Accusative wǣranwǣranwǣre
Genitive wǣranwǣranwǣran
Dative wǣranwǣranwǣran
Instrumental wǣranwǣranwǣran
Plural
Nominative wǣranwǣranwǣran
Accusative wǣranwǣranwǣran
Genitive wǣrrawǣrenawǣrrawǣrenawǣrrawǣrena
Dative wǣrumwǣrumwǣrum
Instrumental wǣrumwǣrumwǣrum

wær3 · noun · feminine

Senses

  1. truth, faith

  2. fidelity, friendship

  3. agreement, promise

Declension · strong ō-stem

Declension of wær
SingularPlural
Nominative wǣrwǣrawǣre
Accusative wǣrewǣrawǣre
Genitive wǣrewǣra
Dative wǣrewǣrum

All forms (22)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *war. Cognate with Old Saxon war, Old High German war, Old Norse varr, Gothic (wars). Related to Modern English aware and beware (literally “be cautious! be on guard!”); unrelated to war, which is from Frankish *werʀu (“confusion, quarrel”).

From Proto-West Germanic *wār (“true”). Cognates Germanic cognates include Old High German wār, wāra (German wahr), Old Saxon wār (Low German war), Old Dutch wār (Dutch waar), Old Norse várar pl. The Indo-European root is also the source of Latin vērus, Old Irish fír (Irish fíor), Welsh cywir, Old Church Slavonic вѣра (věra), Russian ве́ра (véra).

From Proto-West Germanic *wāru, from Proto-Germanic *wērō (“truth”). Cognate with Old Saxon wār (“truth”), Old High German wāra (“truth”), Latin vērus (“true”).

Descendants

aware, beware, ware

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wær · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution