"were" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:were<id:be>",
        "id": "be",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der.\nProto-Germanic *wēzīn\nProto-West Germanic *wāʀīn\nOld English wǣre\nOld English wǣron\nOld English wǣren\nMiddle English were\nEnglish were\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₂wes-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*wēzīn\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*wāʀīn\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wǣre\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wǣron\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wǣren\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"were\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"were\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"be\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"were\" id=\"English:_be\">",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I",
      "name": "yesno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English were",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English were",
      "name": "inh+"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wǣre"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wǣre",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*wāʀun"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*wesaną",
        "4": "*wēzun"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wēzun",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂wes-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der.\nProto-Germanic *wēzīn\nProto-West Germanic *wāʀīn\nOld English wǣre\nOld English wǣron\nOld English wǣren\nMiddle English were\nEnglish were\nInherited 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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ware",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weare",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "were",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "am"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "are"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "art"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "be"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "been"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "beest"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "being"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "is"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "was"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "wast"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "wert"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "11 8 8 22 11 8 8 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymon",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              10,
              14
            ]
          ],
          "text": "John, you were the only person to see him.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "be"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "second-person singular simple past indicative of be"
      ],
      "id": "en-were-en-verb-FKZViDKp",
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "second-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              3,
              7
            ]
          ],
          "text": "We were about to leave.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              23
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Mary and John, you were right.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              5,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They were a fine group.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              5,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They were to be the best of friends from that day on.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "be"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "plural simple past indicative of be"
      ],
      "id": "en-were-en-verb-DIM7QUfq",
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              15,
              19
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I wish that it were Sunday.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              14,
              18
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I wish that I were with you.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              7,
              11
            ]
          ],
          "text": "If you were to move your chair a little, we'd all fit.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              16
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I'd say you were about 50 years old right now.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              114,
              118
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:",
          "text": "A long shot, it may be, at immortality, but longer ones have hit; or Guido Fawkes, William Tell, and Samuel Pepys were forgotten now.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              46
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "simple subjunctive of be"
      ],
      "id": "en-were-en-verb-en:subjunctive",
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:subjunctive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Irish English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Multicultural London English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Northern England English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "26 16 15 42",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 15 15 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymon",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 18 16 38",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 8 8 22 11 8 8 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymon",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "be"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be."
      ],
      "id": "en-were-en-verb-aKTMzgUY",
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(MLE, Northern England, Ireland) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Ireland",
        "Multicultural-London-English",
        "Northern-England",
        "first-person",
        "form-of",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/wə(ɹ)/",
      "note": "weak form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wər",
      "note": "weak form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɜː/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wûr",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-were.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "London"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɛː/",
      "note": "Humberside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wâr",
      "note": "Humberside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɜː(ɹ)/",
      "note": "Lancashire, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wûr",
      "note": "Lancashire, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/weː/",
      "note": "Liverpool, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wâr",
      "note": "Liverpool, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɔː/",
      "note": "Northumbria, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɛː/",
      "note": "Teesside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wâr",
      "note": "Teesside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɛr/",
      "note": "Scotland, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wûr",
      "note": "Scotland, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɚ/",
      "note": "weak form"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-were.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/En-us-were.ogg/En-us-were.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/En-us-were.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɝ/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-whirr.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6f/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6f/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wøː/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɑːɹ/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wär",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "we're"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whirr (wine–whine merger, fern–fir–fur merger)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "ware (fair–fur merger)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "where (fair–fur merger, wine–whine merger)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "english": "thou; used with",
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "second-person",
        "singular"
      ],
      "translation": "thou; used with",
      "word": "wast"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "english": "thou; used with",
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "imperfect",
        "second-person",
        "singular",
        "subjunctive"
      ],
      "translation": "thou; used with",
      "word": "wert"
    }
  ],
  "word": "were"
}

{
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I",
      "name": "yesno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English were",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English were",
      "name": "inh+"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "wp"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Middle English were, wer, see wer.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "weres",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "were (plural weres)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "man; wergeld",
          "word": "wer"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons\nEvery man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were."
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              53,
              57
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History … arranged … by T. Young, page 19:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              63,
              67
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              75,
              79
            ],
            [
              183,
              187
            ],
            [
              237,
              241
            ],
            [
              298,
              302
            ],
            [
              344,
              348
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, →ISBN, pages 12–13:",
          "text": "The consequence of conviction was, the payment to the person injured, of a were, or penalty, proportioned to the offencel but though this was the ordinary course, the recovery of the were was not the only object of the proceedings. \"The were,\" says Reeve, \"in cases of homicide, and the fines that were paid in cases of theft of various kinds, were only to redeem the offender from the proper punishment of the law, which was death, and that was reddemable, not only by paying money, but by undergoing some personal pains; hence it is that we hear a great variety of corporal punishments...\"...",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)."
      ],
      "id": "en-were-en-noun-texvxN26",
      "links": [
        [
          "wer",
          "wer#English"
        ],
        [
          "man",
          "man"
        ],
        [
          "wergeld",
          "wergeld"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "were"
}

{
  "etymology_number": "3",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "werewolf"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from werewolf",
      "name": "back-form"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "wer"
      },
      "expansion": "English wer",
      "name": "m+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "weres",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "were (plural weres)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "17 43 10 7 3 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English back-formations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 54 6 5 2 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 50 9 6 2 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 53 7 5 3 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf."
      ],
      "id": "en-were-en-noun-vlE7KpRg",
      "links": [
        [
          "fandom",
          "fandom"
        ],
        [
          "werewolf",
          "werewolf#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "were"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English auxiliary verb forms",
    "English back-formations",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with etymology trees",
    "English entries with etymon",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English irregular simple past forms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English nouns",
    "English raising verbs",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂wes-",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "English verb forms",
    "English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax",
    "Pages with 15 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Pages with etymology trees",
    "Pages with etymon",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:were<id:be>",
        "id": "be",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der.\nProto-Germanic *wēzīn\nProto-West Germanic *wāʀīn\nOld English wǣre\nOld English wǣron\nOld English wǣren\nMiddle English were\nEnglish were\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₂wes-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*wēzīn\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*wāʀīn\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wǣre\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wǣron\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wǣren\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"were\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"were\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"be\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"were\" id=\"English:_be\">",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I",
      "name": "yesno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English were",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English were",
      "name": "inh+"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wǣre"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wǣre",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*wāʀun"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*wesaną",
        "4": "*wēzun"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wēzun",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂wes-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der.\nProto-Germanic *wēzīn\nProto-West Germanic *wāʀīn\nOld English wǣre\nOld English wǣron\nOld English wǣren\nMiddle English were\nEnglish were\nInherited 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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ware",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weare",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "were",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "am"
    },
    {
      "word": "are"
    },
    {
      "word": "art"
    },
    {
      "word": "be"
    },
    {
      "word": "been"
    },
    {
      "word": "beest"
    },
    {
      "word": "being"
    },
    {
      "word": "is"
    },
    {
      "word": "was"
    },
    {
      "word": "wast"
    },
    {
      "word": "wert"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              10,
              14
            ]
          ],
          "text": "John, you were the only person to see him.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "be"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "second-person singular simple past indicative of be"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "second-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              3,
              7
            ]
          ],
          "text": "We were about to leave.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              23
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Mary and John, you were right.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              5,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They were a fine group.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              5,
              9
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They were to be the best of friends from that day on.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "be"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "plural simple past indicative of be"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              15,
              19
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I wish that it were Sunday.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              14,
              18
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I wish that I were with you.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              7,
              11
            ]
          ],
          "text": "If you were to move your chair a little, we'd all fit.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              16
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I'd say you were about 50 years old right now.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              114,
              118
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:",
          "text": "A long shot, it may be, at immortality, but longer ones have hit; or Guido Fawkes, William Tell, and Samuel Pepys were forgotten now.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              46
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "simple subjunctive of be"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:subjunctive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Irish English",
        "Multicultural London English",
        "Northern England English"
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "be"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(MLE, Northern England, Ireland) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Ireland",
        "Multicultural-London-English",
        "Northern-England",
        "first-person",
        "form-of",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/wə(ɹ)/",
      "note": "weak form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wər",
      "note": "weak form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɜː/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wûr",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-were.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/17/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Back_ache-were.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "London"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɛː/",
      "note": "Humberside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wâr",
      "note": "Humberside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɜː(ɹ)/",
      "note": "Lancashire, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wûr",
      "note": "Lancashire, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/weː/",
      "note": "Liverpool, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wâr",
      "note": "Liverpool, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɔː/",
      "note": "Northumbria, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɛː/",
      "note": "Teesside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wâr",
      "note": "Teesside, fair–fur merger, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɛr/",
      "note": "Scotland, strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wûr",
      "note": "Scotland, strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɚ/",
      "note": "weak form"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-were.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/En-us-were.ogg/En-us-were.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/En-us-were.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɝ/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-whirr.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6f/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6f/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-whirr.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wøː/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɑːɹ/",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "wär",
      "note": "strong form"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "we're"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "whirr (wine–whine merger, fern–fir–fur merger)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "ware (fair–fur merger)"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "where (fair–fur merger, wine–whine merger)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "english": "thou; used with",
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "indicative",
        "past",
        "second-person",
        "singular"
      ],
      "translation": "thou; used with",
      "word": "wast"
    },
    {
      "english": "thou; used with",
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "imperfect",
        "second-person",
        "singular",
        "subjunctive"
      ],
      "translation": "thou; used with",
      "word": "wert"
    }
  ],
  "word": "were"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English auxiliary verb forms",
    "English back-formations",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English irregular simple past forms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English raising verbs",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax",
    "Pages with 15 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I",
      "name": "yesno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English were",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "were"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English were",
      "name": "inh+"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "wp"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Middle English were, wer, see wer.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "weres",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "were (plural weres)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "man; wergeld",
          "word": "wer"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons\nEvery man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were."
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              53,
              57
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History … arranged … by T. Young, page 19:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              63,
              67
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              75,
              79
            ],
            [
              183,
              187
            ],
            [
              237,
              241
            ],
            [
              298,
              302
            ],
            [
              344,
              348
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, →ISBN, pages 12–13:",
          "text": "The consequence of conviction was, the payment to the person injured, of a were, or penalty, proportioned to the offencel but though this was the ordinary course, the recovery of the were was not the only object of the proceedings. \"The were,\" says Reeve, \"in cases of homicide, and the fines that were paid in cases of theft of various kinds, were only to redeem the offender from the proper punishment of the law, which was death, and that was reddemable, not only by paying money, but by undergoing some personal pains; hence it is that we hear a great variety of corporal punishments...\"...",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wer",
          "wer#English"
        ],
        [
          "man",
          "man"
        ],
        [
          "wergeld",
          "wergeld"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "were"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English auxiliary verb forms",
    "English back-formations",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English irregular simple past forms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English raising verbs",
    "English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax",
    "Pages with 15 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": "3",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "werewolf"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from werewolf",
      "name": "back-form"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "wer"
      },
      "expansion": "English wer",
      "name": "m+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "weres",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "were (plural weres)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English fandom slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fandom",
          "fandom"
        ],
        [
          "werewolf",
          "werewolf#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "were"
}