was

Meaning

1. first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
2. third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
3. Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
4. second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
5. first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
6. third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
7. A surname.
8. plural of WA

Etymology / origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- Proto-Germanic *was Old English wæs Middle English was English was From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. See also Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var); also Kamkata-viri vos-, Sanskrit उवास (uvā́sa). The paradigm of “to be” has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of three originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form be is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become”). The forms is and are are both derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Lastly, the past forms starting with w- such as was and were are from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).

Related words

Descendant words

• was(Dutch) (cog)
• わず(Japanese) (bor)
• ワズ(Japanese) (bor)
• was(Middle Dutch) (cog)
• वसति(Sanskrit) (cog)

Sources

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