were meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

were

verb

/wə(ɹ)/ · /wɜː/

Etymology Inherited from Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun, *wāʀīn, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.

Indicative, Past, Second person second-person singular simple past indicative of be

John, you were the only person to see him.

Indicative, Past plural simple past indicative of be

We were about to leave.
Mary and John, you were right.

2 more examples

They were a fine group.
They were to be the best of friends from that day on.

simple subjunctive of be

I wish that it were Sunday.
I wish that I were with you.

3 more examples

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,...)If you were to move your chair a little, we'd all fit. with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause
A long shot, it may be, at immortality, but longer ones have hit; or Guido Fawkes, William Tell, and Samuel Pepys were forgotten now.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
Maccabi would have been out of contention were it not for Stoke's profligacy, but their fortune eventually ran out as the visitors opened the scoring.2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:

Ireland, Multicultural London English, Northern England, First person, Indicative, Past, Third person first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.

Synonyms: wast, wert
Related terms: am, are, art, be, been, beest, being, is, was, wast, wert

were

noun

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

Lifestyle Slang The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.