Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryA man; a male; a husband. · A fine for slaying a man; wergeld.
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)”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "wer"
},
"expansion": "Middle English wer"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "wer",
"t": "man"
},
"expansion": "Old English wer (“man”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*wer"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *wer"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*weraz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *weraz"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
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"3": "*wiHrós",
"4": "",
"5": "man, freeman"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (“man, freeman”)"
},
{
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"args": {
"1": "gmh",
"2": "wër",
"3": "",
"4": "man"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German wër (“man”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "värbror",
"3": "",
"4": "brother-in-law"
},
"expansion": "Swedish värbror (“brother-in-law”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "no",
"2": "verfader",
"3": "",
"4": "father-in-law"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian verfader (“father-in-law”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "vir",
"3": "",
"4": "man, husband"
},
"expansion": "Latin vir (“man, husband”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sga",
"2": "fer"
},
"expansion": "Old Irish fer"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "wlm",
"2": "gwr"
},
"expansion": "Middle Welsh gwr"
},
{
"name": "wp",
"args": {
"1": "+e"
},
"expansion": ""
}
],
"links": [
[
"wer",
"wer#Middle_English"
],
[
"were",
"were#Middle_English"
],
[
"wer",
"wer#Old_English"
],
[
"*wer",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wer"
],
[
"*weraz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/weraz"
],
[
"*wiHrós",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wiHrós"
],
[
"wër",
"wer#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"värbror",
"värbror#Swedish"
],
[
"verfader",
"verfader#Norwegian"
],
[
"vir",
"vir#Latin"
],
[
"fer",
"fer#Old_Irish"
],
[
"gwr",
"gwr#Middle_Welsh"
],
[
"werewolf, were wolf",
"werewolf#English"
],
[
"wergeld, were gild",
"wergeld#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A man; a male; a husband.",
"A fine for slaying a man; wergeld."
],
"tags": [
"historical",
"obsolete"
],
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