Etymology

wary

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Today it means: Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, trickery, and dangers; suspiciously prudent Full definition →

Middle English warien ← Old English wierġan ← Proto-West Germanic *wargijan
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wary · adjective1

From the adjective ware + -y.

wary · verb2

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*wargaz“criminal”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wargijaną“to condemn, curse”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wargijan
  4. Old English · inherited fromwierġan“to curse, do evil”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromwarien
  6. English todaywary

From Middle English warien, from Old English wierġan (“to curse, do evil”), from Proto-West Germanic *wargijan, from Proto-Germanic *wargijaną (“to condemn, curse”), from Proto-Germanic *wargaz (“criminal”). Doublet of warry.

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*wargijan all →

warry

Proto-Germanic*wargijaną all →

warry

Proto-Germanic*wargaz all →

wargus

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.