was

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“
Well, it turns out it was a French word all along (sorta).

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. verb First and third person singular past indicative of be. See Regional Note at you-uns.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • I might consider Rome for her and Capella if we could fix up a package tour Rome has fashion-shops and restaurants too It also has the Coliseum, the ancient agora and any number of churches, and there might be a chance for the girls to see the Pope I thought agora was a Greek word. —  The Whispering Knights - Gladys Mitchell - Bradley 58
  • Looking for a name that would have some degree of allegorical significance, he chose oholah which Joel said was a Hebrew word for sanctuary. —  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • The term Physcon was a Greek word, which denoted opprobriously the ridiculous figure that he made. —  Cleopatra
  • When I asked what the English word was for it, they replied that gingelly was the English word. —  Hungry Magazine
  • I wasn't sure if there was a Hebrew word for groundhog, but it turns out there is: marmita —  Balashon - Hebrew Language Detective
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This word has been looked up 172 times.

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Used in the same contextWord Family

was:   were ·  being ·  been ·  are ·  am ·  is ·  be

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English wæs; see wes-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English 1 was, wes, wæs, 2 were, 3 was, wes, wæs, plural 1, 2, 3 were, ware, wore, weren, waren, woren, weoren, from Anglo-Saxon 1 wæs, 2 wǣre, wēre, 3 wæs, plural wǣron, wēron = Old Saxon was = OFries. was, wes = Dutch was = Old High German Middle High German G. war = Icelandic Danish Swedish var = Goth, was, plural wēsum (subjunctive Anglo-Saxon wǣre, plural wǣren = Dutch waar, etc., = Goth, wēsjau); preterit of a verb otherwise used in Anglo-Saxon only in the present imperative wes, and the infinitive wesan (past participle gewesen), = OFries. wesa = Dutch wezen = Middle Low German Low German wesen = Old High German wesan, Middle High German wesen (German wesen, n.) = Icelandic vesa, vera = Swedish vara = Danish være, be, = Gothic (Moesogothic) wisan, dwell, remain, be; = L. √ ves (in verna for *vesna, one dwelling in the house, a home-born slave: see vernacular) = Greek ✓ Φασ (in ἂστυ, city, orig. dwelling-place) = Sanskrit ✓ vas, dwell. The imperative of the verb of which was is the preterit is contained, unrecognized, in the word wassail. The verb has no connection with is, which is a form of the verb represented by the theme am, nor with be; but it has come to be used to supply the preterit of the verb be. See be.
 

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/wɑz/
by American Heritage
by Lee Davis-Thalbourne

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