WERE
BE
be
(verb) spend or use time; “I may be an hour”
be, follow
(verb) work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function; “He is a herpetologist”; “She is our resident philosopher”
exist, be
(verb) have an existence, be extant; “Is there a God?”
be
(verb) have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); “John is rich”; “This is not a good answer”
be, live
(verb) have life, be alive; “Our great leader is no more”; “My grandfather lived until the end of war”
be
(verb) be identical to; be someone or something; “The president of the company is John Smith”; “This is my house”
constitute, represent, make up, comprise, be
(verb) form or compose; “This money is my only income”; “The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance”; “These constitute my entire belonging”; “The children made up the chorus”; “This sum represents my entire income for a year”; “These few men comprise his entire army”
be
(verb) occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere; “Where is my umbrella?”; “The toolshed is in the back”; “What is behind this behavior?”
equal, be
(verb) be identical or equivalent to; “One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!”
embody, be, personify
(verb) represent, as of a character on stage; “Derek Jacobi was Hamlet”
cost, be
(verb) be priced at; “These shoes cost $100”
be
(verb) happen, occur, take place; “I lost my wallet; this was during the visit to my parents’ house”; “There were two hundred people at his funeral”; “There was a lot of noise in the kitchen”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
were
second-person singular simple past indicative of be
first-person/second-person/third-person plural simple past indicative of be
first-person/second-person/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive of be
(Northern England) first-person/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
Synonyms
• (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with “thou”)
• (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with “thou”)
Etymology 2
Noun
were (plural weres)
(obsolete) A man, a husband
(obsolete) A fine for slaying a man; weregild.
(fandom) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
Anagrams
• Ewer, ewer, ewre, rewe, weer
Source: Wiktionary
Were, v. t. & i.
Definition: To wear. See 3d Wear. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Were, n.
Definition: A weir. See Weir. [Obs.] Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney.
Were, v. t. Etym: [AS. werian.]
Definition: To guard; to protect. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Were. Etym: [AS. wre (thou) wast, w (we, you, they) were, w imp.
subj. See Was.]
Definition: The imperfect indicative plural, and imperfect subjunctive
singular and plural, of the verb be. See Be.
Were, n. Etym: [AS. wer; akin to OS. & OHG. wer, Goth. waĂr, L. vir,
Skr. vira. Cf. Weregild, and Werewolf.]
1. A man. [Obs.]
2. A fine for slaying a man; the money value set upon a man's life;
weregild. [Obs.]
Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.
Bosworth.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition