wer

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*wiHrós“man, freeman”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*weraz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wer
4. Old English · inherited fromwer“man”
5. Middle English · inherited fromwer
6. English todaywer

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)”).

Words from the same roots