noun
Meaning 1
A man; a male; a husband.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: otherwise archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
wer
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
Meaning 2
A fine for slaying a man; wergeld.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Initialism of word error rate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
Eye dialect spelling of were.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, pronunciation-spelling
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
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)”).