was

was

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of was in English

English Online Dictionary. What means was‎? What does was mean?

Translingual

Symbol

was

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Washo.

English

Alternative forms

  • wus
  • wuz

Etymology

From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, (compare Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e (compare Kamkata-viri vos-, Sanskrit उवास (uvā́sa)), from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. 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”).

Pronunciation

(stressed)

  • (UK, New Zealand) enPR: wŏz, wŭz, IPA(key): /wɒz/, /wʌz/
  • (US) enPR: wŭz, wŏz, IPA(key): /wʌz/, /wɑz/
  • (General Australian) enPR: wŏz, IPA(key): /wɔz/
  • Rhymes: -ɒz, -ʌz

(unstressed)

  • (UK, US) enPR: wəz, IPA(key): /wəz/

Verb

was

  1. first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  2. third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  3. (now colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
  4. (now colloquial or nonstandard, African-American Vernacular) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
  5. (colloquial, nonstandard) first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
  6. (colloquial, nonstandard, African-American Vernacular) third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.

Derived terms

  • wasband
  • wasbian

See also

Further reading

  • If I Was or If I Were: Easy Guide on Appropriate Use, grammar.yourdictionary.com
  • When to use "If I was" vs. "If I were"?, english.stackexchange.com
  • if I were you, if I was you at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Anagrams

  • ASW, AWS, SAW, Saw, aws, saw

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Noun

was (uncountable)

  1. wax

Verb

was

  1. past of wees

Verb

was (present was, present participle wassende, past participle gewas)

  1. to wash

Banda

Noun

was

  1. water

References

  • "Elat, Kei Besar" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Cebuano

Etymology

Slang variant of wala

Pronoun

was

  1. (slang, informal) nothing; none

Adjective

was

  1. (informal) absent

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʋɑs/
  • Rhymes: -ɑs

Etymology 1

Cognate with English wash.

Noun

was m (plural wassen, diminutive wasje n)

  1. laundry, clothes that need to be washed, or just have been washed
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Negerhollands: wasch, was

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *was, from Proto-Germanic *wahsą. Cognate with German Wachs, English wax, Danish voks, Swedish vax.

Noun

was m or n (plural wassen)

  1. wax
  2. growth
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Cognate with English was.

Verb

was

  1. singular past indicative of zijn
  2. singular past indicative of wezen

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

was

  1. inflection of wassen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

Anagrams

  • swa

German

Alternative forms

  • wat (colloquial in western and parts of northern Germany)

Etymology

From Middle High German waz, from Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod. Cognate with Bavarian was, wås, Silesian East Central German woas (was), Dutch wat, English what, Danish hvad. Doublet of wat.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vas/
  • Rhymes: -as

Pronoun

was

  1. (interrogative) what
  2. (relative) which (referring to the entire preceding clause)
  3. (relative) that, which (referring to das, alles, etwas, nichts, and neuter substantival adjectives)
  4. (relative, colloquial) that, which (referring to neuter singular nouns, instead of standard das)
  5. (indefinite, colloquial) something, anything (instead of standard etwas)
  6. (interrogative, dated) why (with emphasis, astonishment or disapproval)

Usage notes

  • Was is colloquially used with prepositions, chiefly but not exclusively in southern regions. Otherwise it is generally replaced with a pronominal adverb containing wo- (or in a few cases wes-). Hence: Womit hast du das gemacht? (“With what did you do that?”), instead of Mit was hast du das gemacht?, and weswegen instead of wegen was.
  • The genitive case, and the dative case if necessary for clearness, can be paraphrased by means of welcher Sache (“what thing”). Possessive genitives are more commonly paraphrased with wovon (“of what”). It is also possible to use the genitive form wessen, but it wouldn't be used in questions such as Wessen ist das? because here it would be understood as the genitive form of wer.
  • The colloquial was meaning "something" can only be the first word in a sentence if followed by an adjective: Was Wichtiges fehlt noch. (“Something important is missing.”) Otherwise the full form etwas must be used: Etwas fehlt noch. (“Something is missing.”) The reason for this is that the latter sentence could be misinterpreted as a question if was were used.

Declension

Derived terms

  • komme, was wolle
  • was ist dir; was ist Dir
  • was kostet es
  • was zum Geier; was zum Kuckuck
  • tun, was man nicht lassen kann
  • was auch immer
  • was der Bauer nicht kennt, das frisst er nicht
  • was geht
  • was gibt's Neues
  • was du nicht sagst; was ihr nicht sagt; was Sie nicht sagen

Determiner

was

  1. (archaic) what; what kind of
    Synonym: was für

Usage notes

  • In the dative and genitive feminine, the inflected form waser occurred.

Adverb

was

  1. (colloquial) Clipping of etwas.
  2. (interrogative, colloquial) why, what for
    Synonyms: warum, wieso, weshalb

Gothic

Romanization

was

  1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐍃

Gros Ventre

Noun

was

  1. bear

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German waz, from Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vas/

Pronoun

was

  1. (interrogative) what
  2. (relative) what
  3. (indefinite) something, anything

See also

  • etwas

Further reading

  • Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Javanese

Romanization

was

  1. Romanization of ꦮꦱ꧀

Low German

Verb

was

  1. first-person singular simple past indicative of węsen
  2. third-person singular simple past indicative of węsen
  3. apocopated form of wasse (“wash”), second-person singular imperative of wassen (mainly used in the Netherlands, equivalent to other dialects' wasche/waske)
  4. apocopated form of wasse (“wax”), second-person singular imperative of wassen
  5. apocopated form of wasse (“grow”), second-person singular imperative of wassen

Usage notes

Notes on the verb węsen (to be): In recent times (~1800) the old subjunctive wer is used in place of was by many speakers. This might be the old subjunctive which is now used as a preterite or a reduction of weren, which is the preterite plural indicative of the verb. It might also be an imitation of the High German cognate war. Many smaller dialectal clusters do this, but no dialect does it. That means: even though there are many regions within e.g. Lower Saxony that use wer for was, maybe even the majority, there is no straight connection between them, i.e. which form is used can depend on preference, speaker and specific region. Due to this "one town this way, one town that way"-nature of the situation no form can be named "standard" for a greater dialect, such as Low Saxon.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [was]

Pronoun

was

  1. genitive of wy
  2. accusative of wy
  3. locative of wy

Mayangna

Noun

was

  1. water
  2. stream, river

References

  • Smith, Ethnogeography of the Mayangna of Nicaragua, in Ethno- and historical geographic studies in Latin America: essays honoring William V. Davidson (2008), page 88: The location of 46 settlements from this list containing the term ”was" —meaning "water" or "stream" — were obtained[.]

Middle Dutch

Verb

was

  1. first/third-person singular past indicative of wēsen

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English wæs (first/third person singular indicative past of wesan), from Proto-Germanic *was (first/third person singular indicative past of *wesaną).

Verb

was

  1. first/third-person singular past indicative of been
  2. (dialectal) second-person singular past indicative of been
  3. (dialectal) plural past indicative of been
Descendants
  • English: was
  • Scots: was, wis
  • Yola: waas, was, waz, 'as, as (after Ich)

Etymology 2

Pronoun

was

  1. Alternative form of whos (“whose”, genitive)

Middle Low German

Alternative forms

  • wass

Verb

was

  1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of wēsen

Old English

Alternative forms

  • wes — Mercian
  • wæs

Verb

was (Northumbrian)

  1. first/third-person singular preterite of bēon
  2. first/third-person singular preterite of wesan

Old High German

Alternative forms

  • uuas, ƿas — Manuscript spelling

Verb

was

  1. first/third-person singular past indicative of wesan

Old Javanese

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /was/
  • Rhymes: -was
  • Homophone: wās
  • Hyphenation: was

Etymology 1

Root

was

  1. Alternative spelling of wās (“clear”)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

was

  1. name of a day in the six-day week

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Particle

was

  1. emphatic or descriptive particle

Further reading

  • "was" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German waz, from Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-West Germanic *hwat.

Compare German was, Dutch wat, English what.

Pronoun

was

  1. (interrogative) what

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvas/
  • Rhymes: -as
  • Syllabification: was

Pronoun

was

  1. genitive/accusative/locative of wy

Proto-Norse

Romanization

was

  1. Romanization of ᚹᚨᛊ

Scots

Noun

was

  1. plural of wa

Seychellois Creole

Etymology

From French ouest.

Noun

was

  1. west

References

  • Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français

Somali

Verb

was

  1. fuck

Descendants

  • → English: wass

Spanish

Etymology

From WhatsApp.

Noun

was m (plural was)

  1. a message sent or received over WhatsApp

Related terms

Tagalog

Alternative forms

  • waz
  • wis, wiz
  • wit, wititit

Etymology

Clipping wala +‎ s.

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /ˈwas/ [ˈwas]
  • Rhymes: -as
  • Syllabification: was

Pronoun

was (Baybayin spelling ᜏᜐ᜔) (gay slang)

  1. nothing; none
    Synonyms: wala, (gay slang) waley

Further reading

  • Zorc, R. David, San Miguel, Rachel (1993) Tagalog Slang Dictionary, Manila: De La Salle University Press, →ISBN, page 155

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English watch.

Verb

was

  1. angel; any supernatural creature in heaven according to Christian theology

Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /waːs/

Noun

was

  1. Soft mutation of gwas.

Mutation

Yola

Verb

was

  1. Alternative form of waas (“was”)
  2. Alternative form of waas (“were”)

References

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867

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Related Words

waste

washington

washing

washer

wash

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.