wer
A man; a male; a husband.
Noun
- A man; a male; a husband.
- […]the character of a horseman was inseparable connected with the knight—the military attendant of the baron, who was himself nothing more than the Wer, or Man, of the king—even the armiger, […] - 1862, E. William...
- Further is this wort of two kinds, wer and wife, or male and female. The wer, or male, hath white blossoms, and the wife, or female, hath red or brown; either is beneficial and wonderlike, and they have on them wondrous...
- A fine for slaying a man; wergeld.
- Under the system of money compensation, the kindred of the slain must demand payment of the wer, or prosecute the feud. They had the right to the wer when paid, and must by oath release the slayer and his kindred from...
- 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...
Origin
From Middle English wer, were, from Old English wer (“man”), from Proto-West Germanic *wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, 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. The original meaning of “man” is now preserved only in compounds like werewolf, were wolf (“man-wolf”) and wergeld, were gild (“man gold (payment)”).
Forms
Related
Verb
- Eye dialect spelling of were.