Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗first-person singular simple past indicative of be. · third-person singular simple past indicative of be. · Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural. · second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- Proto-Germanic *was Old English wæs Middle English was English was From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. See also Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var); also Kamkata-viri vos-, Sanskrit उवास (uvā́sa). The paradigm of “to be” has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of three originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form be and its derived forms been and being are from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become”). The present-tense indicative forms am, is, and are are both derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Lastly, the past forms starting with w- such as was and were are from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionwasenm
- Inherited-form mentionwæsang
- Inherited-form mention*wasgem-pro
- Cognate mentionwassco
- Cognate mentionwasfy
- Cognate mentionwasnl
- Cognate mentionwasnds
- Cognate mentionwarde
- Cognate mentionvarsv
- Cognate mentionvos-bsh
- Cognate mentionउवासsa
- Derivation mention*bʰuH-ine-pro
- Derivation mention*h₁es-ine-pro
- Derivation mention*h₂wes-ine-pro
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:was",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂wes-\nProto-Germanic *was\nOld English wæs\nMiddle English was\nEnglish was\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*was\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wæs\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"was\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"was\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"was\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "was"
},
"expansion": "Middle English was"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "wæs"
},
"expansion": "Old English wæs"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*was"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *was"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "",
"4": "*h₂we-h₂wós-e"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "was"
},
"expansion": "Scots was"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "was"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian was"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "was"
},
"expansion": "Dutch was"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds",
"2": "was"
},
"expansion": "Low German was"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "war"
},
"expansion": "German war"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "var"
},
"expansion": "Swedish var"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "bsh",
"2": "vos-"
},
"expansion": "Kamkata-viri vos-"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sa",
"2": "उवास",
"tr": "uvā́sa"
},
"expansion": "Sanskrit उवास (uvā́sa)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*bʰuH-",
"4": "",
"5": "to become"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*h₁es-",
"4": "",
"5": "to be"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*h₂wes-",
"4": "",
"5": "to reside"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”)"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:was",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂wes-\nProto-Germanic *was\nOld English wæs\nMiddle English was\nEnglish was"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*h₂wes-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂wes-"
],
[
"*was",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/was"
],
[
"wæs",
"wæs#Old_English"
],
[
"was",
"was#Middle_English"
],
[
"was",
"was#Middle_English"
],
[
"wæs",
"wæs#Old_English"
],
[
"*was",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/was"
],
[
"*h₂wes-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂wes-"
],
[
"vestal",
"vestal#English"
],
[
"was",
"was#Scots"
],
[
"was",
"was#West_Frisian"
],
[
"was",
"was#Dutch"
],
[
"was",
"was#Low_German"
],
[
"war",
"war#German"
],
[
"var",
"var#Swedish"
],
[
"vos-",
"vos-#Kamkata-viri"
],
[
"उवास",
"उवास#Sanskrit"
],
[
"be",
"be#English"
],
[
"been",
"been#English"
],
[
"being",
"being#English"
],
[
"*bʰuH-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰuH-"
],
[
"am",
"am#English"
],
[
"is",
"is#English"
],
[
"are",
"are#English"
],
[
"*h₁es-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁es-"
],
[
"were",
"were#English"
],
[
"*h₂wes-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂wes-"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "わず",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"first-person singular simple past indicative of be.",
"third-person singular simple past indicative of be.",
"Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.",
"second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were."
],
"tags": [
"first-person",
"form-of",
"indicative",
"past",
"singular",
"third-person",
"colloquial",
"nonstandard",
"second-person"
],
"recordId": "f6ab0946f594ad0d4196062ce0b1b06490dd74fea54b53458fb76f0a5a4f356a",
"rawRecordSha256": "8200aaceeb839f84f80677cba989422af992a1c1ade73b1131158c2c82fc9199",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 17793
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
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"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 2,
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}
}