See were in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for were meaning in English (11.9kB)
{
"etymology_number": 1,
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"3": "were"
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"expansion": "Middle English were",
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{
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"2": "weren"
},
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{
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"3": "wǣre"
},
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},
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{
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},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "was"
},
"expansion": "was",
"name": "l"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.",
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"type": "example"
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"second-person singular simple past indicative of be"
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],
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{
"text": "We were about to leave.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "Mary and John, you were right.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "They were a fine group.",
"type": "example"
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{
"text": "They were to be the best of friends from that day on.",
"type": "example"
}
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"text": "I wish that it were Sunday."
},
{
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"text": "Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...)\nWere father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...)"
},
{
"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"
}
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"categories": [
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"parents": [],
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{
"kind": "other",
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{
"_dis": "5 21 24 18 15 17",
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{
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"Entry maintenance"
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{
"word": "be"
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],
"glosses": [
"first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be."
],
"id": "en-were-en-verb-aKTMzgUY",
"links": [
[
"be",
"be#English"
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(MLE, Northern England) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be."
],
"tags": [
"Multicultural-London-English",
"Northern-England",
"first-person",
"form-of",
"indicative",
"past",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/wɜː(ɹ)/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɛə(ɹ)/",
"tags": [
"UK",
"regional"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɝ/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɑːɹ/",
"tags": [
"Ireland",
"also"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)"
},
{
"ipa": "/wə(ɹ)/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɚ/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"homophone": "we're"
},
{
"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"
],
"text": "Audio (London)"
},
{
"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"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
},
{
"enpr": "wûr"
},
{
"enpr": "wâr"
},
{
"enpr": "wär"
},
{
"enpr": "wər"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"english": "thou; used with",
"tags": [
"archaic",
"indicative",
"past",
"second-person",
"singular"
],
"word": "wast"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"english": "thou; used with",
"tags": [
"archaic",
"imperfect",
"second-person",
"singular",
"subjunctive"
],
"word": "wert"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"english": "old eye dialect",
"word": "ware"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"tags": [
"obsolete"
],
"word": "weare"
}
],
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],
"word": "were"
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{
"etymology_number": 2,
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{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
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"expansion": "Middle English were",
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},
{
"args": {
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"2": "wer"
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"expansion": "wer",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wer"
},
"expansion": "wer",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English were, wer, see wer.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "weres",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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{
"args": {},
"expansion": "were (plural weres)",
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],
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
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{
"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."
},
{
"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"
},
{
"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"
},
{
"ref": "2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, 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-2M2Vwwd-",
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[
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"wer#English"
],
[
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"man"
],
[
"wergeld",
"wergeld"
]
],
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"alt-of",
"alternative"
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}
],
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"were"
],
"word": "were"
}
{
"etymology_number": 3,
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"args": {
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},
"expansion": "Back-formation from werewolf",
"name": "back-form"
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{
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"1": "en",
"2": "were-"
},
"expansion": "were-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
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"2": "wer"
},
"expansion": "English wer",
"name": "m+"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "were",
"3": "",
"4": "man"
},
"expansion": "were (“man”)",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).",
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{
"form": "weres",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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{
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{
"_dis": "5 26 21 16 15 17",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax",
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}
],
"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"
],
[
"slang",
"slang"
],
[
"werewolf",
"werewolf#English"
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],
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"(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"
]
}
],
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],
"word": "were"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"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 inherited from Middle English",
"English terms inherited from Old English",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with homophones",
"English verb forms",
"English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax",
"Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)",
"Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)/1 syllable"
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{
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},
{
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{
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{
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"name": "der"
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{
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{
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},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "was"
},
"expansion": "was",
"name": "l"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.",
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"pos": "verb",
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{
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{
"word": "is"
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{
"word": "art"
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{
"word": "be"
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{
"word": "being"
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{
"word": "been"
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{
"word": "beest"
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{
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{
"word": "wast"
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{
"word": "wert"
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],
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"text": "John, you were the only person to see him.",
"type": "example"
}
],
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"second-person singular simple past indicative of be"
],
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{
"categories": [
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],
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{
"text": "We were about to leave.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "Mary and John, you were right.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "They were a fine group.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "They were to be the best of friends from that day on.",
"type": "example"
}
],
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],
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],
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],
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{
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],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I wish that it were Sunday."
},
{
"ref": "I wish that I were with you. with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause",
"text": "Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...)\nWere father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...)"
},
{
"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"
}
],
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{
"word": "be"
}
],
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"first/second/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive of be"
],
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],
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"past",
"plural",
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},
{
"categories": [
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"first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be."
],
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],
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}
],
"sounds": [
{
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"tags": [
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]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɛə(ɹ)/",
"tags": [
"UK",
"regional"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɝ/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɑːɹ/",
"tags": [
"Ireland",
"also"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)"
},
{
"ipa": "/wə(ɹ)/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/wɚ/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"homophone": "we're"
},
{
"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"
],
"text": "Audio (London)"
},
{
"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"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
},
{
"enpr": "wûr"
},
{
"enpr": "wâr"
},
{
"enpr": "wär"
},
{
"enpr": "wər"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"english": "thou; used with",
"tags": [
"archaic",
"indicative",
"past",
"second-person",
"singular"
],
"word": "wast"
},
{
"english": "thou; used with",
"tags": [
"archaic",
"imperfect",
"second-person",
"singular",
"subjunctive"
],
"word": "wert"
},
{
"english": "old eye dialect",
"word": "ware"
},
{
"tags": [
"obsolete"
],
"word": "weare"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Were (disambiguation)"
],
"word": "were"
}
{
"categories": [
"English auxiliary verb forms",
"English back-formations",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"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"
],
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "were"
},
"expansion": "Middle English were",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "wer"
},
"expansion": "wer",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wer"
},
"expansion": "wer",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "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."
},
{
"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"
},
{
"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"
},
{
"ref": "2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, 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"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Were (disambiguation)",
"were"
],
"word": "were"
}
{
"categories": [
"English auxiliary verb forms",
"English back-formations",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English heteronyms",
"English irregular simple past forms",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English raising verbs",
"English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax"
],
"etymology_number": 3,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "werewolf"
},
"expansion": "Back-formation from werewolf",
"name": "back-form"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "were-"
},
"expansion": "were-",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "wer"
},
"expansion": "English wer",
"name": "m+"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "were",
"3": "",
"4": "man"
},
"expansion": "were (“man”)",
"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"
],
[
"slang",
"slang"
],
[
"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"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Were (disambiguation)"
],
"word": "were"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.