Were
Were and wer are archaic terms for adult male humans and were often used for alliteration with wife as "were and wife" in Germanic-speaking cultures[1] (Old English: wer, Old Dutch: wer, Gothic: waír, Old Frisian: wer, Old Saxon: wer, Old High German: wer, Old Norse: verr).
In Anglo-Saxon law wer was the value of a man's life. He could be required to pay his wer to the king as a penalty for crime.[2] If he was murdered then his relatives were entitled to his wergild as compensation from the murderer.
Etymology and usage
[edit | edit source]The word has cognates in various other languages, for example, Latin vir (as in virility) and Gaelic fear (plural fir as in Fir Bolg) both mean a male human.
It is likely that wer forms part of a compound word in werewolf (man-wolf), although there are other proposed etymologies.[3] In folklore and fantasy fiction, were- is often prefixed to an animal name to indicate a therianthropic figure or shapeshifter (e.g. "were-boar"). Hyphenation used to be mandatory, but is now commonly dropped, as in werecat and wererat. There is no attested counterpart wifwylf or wyfwylf .
See also
[edit | edit source]- List of common false etymologies of English words#Other for a longer discussion of wer, wyf, and mann
- Man (word)
- For shapeshifters: