we

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

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English we, from Old English wē (“we”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz (“we”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we (plural)”). Cognate with Scots wee, we (“we”), North Frisian we (“we”), West Frisian wy (“we”), Low German wi (“we”), Dutch we, wij (“we”), German wir (“we”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian vi (“we”), Icelandic vér, við (“we”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬨 (vaēm), Sanskrit वयम् (vayám).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, Canada) enPR: wē, IPA^(key): /wiː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /wi/
• Homophones: oui, wee, Wii (wine–whine merger); whee
• Rhymes: -iː

Pronoun

we (first-person plural nominative case, objective case us, possessive determiner our, possessive pronoun ours, reflexive ourselves, reflexive singular ourself)

1. (personal) The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person (not the person being addressed). (This is the exclusive we.)
2. (personal) The speaker(s)/writer(s) and the person(s) being addressed. (This is the inclusive we.)
3. (personal) The institution which the speaker/writer is acting for. (This is the editorial we, used by writers and others when speaking with the authority of their publication or organisation.)
4. (personal, royal) The sovereign alone in their capacity as monarch. (This is the royal we. The reflexive case of this sense of we is ourself.)
5. (personal) The plural form of you, including everyone being addressed.
6. (personal, often considered patronising) A second- or third-person pronoun for a person in the speaker's care.
7. (colloquial) The speaker themselves, used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences and a group of listeners. (Compare the plural of modesty.)
8. (West Country, archaic) Us.
9. (bridge) The side which is keeping score.

   Antonym: they

Derived terms

Descendants

• Jamaican Creole: wi
• Sranan Tongo: wi

Translations

Determiner

we

1. The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person.

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wə/

Pronoun

we

2. (Geordie) Us.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with Tyneside us (“me”).

Anagrams

• EW, e͞w, ew, E&W

Abinomn

Noun

we (dual werom, plural wekon)

1. tree kangaroo

References

• Newguineaworld, citing Donohue and Musgrave, Abinomn nominal number (2007: 365)

Anguthimri

Noun

we

1. (Mpakwithi) owl

References

• Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 189

Caac

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/

Noun

we

1. water

   kô-ny we

   'my (glass/drink of) water'

References

• A Study of Space in Caac, an Oceanic Language

Cameroon Pidgin

Alternative forms

• wi, wu

Etymology

From English we.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wi/

Pronoun

we

1. we, us 1st person plural subject and object personal pronoun

See also

Determiner

we

1. our, 1st person plural possessive determiner

See also

Chuukese

Determiner

we (plural kewe)

1. (possessive subject marker) the (singular)

Dadibi

Noun

wẹ

1. water

Synonyms

• ạị

References

• Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67
• Karl James Franklin, Pacific Linguistics (1973, →ISBN, page 130: Polopa so/sou woman, cf. DAR sou female animal but we woman. Several multiple cognate sets appeared in the data. Daribi uses both ạị and wẹ for water; some Polopa speakers gave one term, some another. Both are probably known everywhere.

Dutch

Etymology

See wij.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋə/

Pronoun

we (personal pronoun)

1. we

Declension

Synonyms

• wij

Descendants

• Jersey Dutch: wê

See also

• ons

Fijian

Noun

we

1. scar

Fwâi

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)

Galoli

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiR.

Noun

we

1. (Talur) water

References

• Bryan Hinton, The languages of Wetar, in Spices from the east: Papers in languages of eastern Indonesia (2000), page 121

Haeke

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• Jean Claude Rivierre, Sabine Ehrhart, Raymond Diéla, Le Bwatoo: et les dialectes de la région de Koné (2006)

Haveke

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• Jean Claude Rivierre, Sabine Ehrhart, Raymond Diéla, Le Bwatoo: et les dialectes de la région de Koné (2006)

Hmwaveke

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water

References

• Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "ʰMoavekɛ" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Ido

Etymology

From w +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/, /wɛ/

Noun

we (plural we-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter W/w.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch wee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/, [we]

Noun

wé

1. The name of the Latin-script letter W/w.

Synonyms

• dabel yu (Standard Malay)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet

Further reading

• “we” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Jamaican Creole

Etymology 1

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

Conjunction

we

1. that

Etymology 2

Derived from English where.

Conjunction

we

1. where

Further reading

• we at majstro.com

Japanese

Romanization

we

1. Rōmaji transcription of ゑ
2. Rōmaji transcription of ヱ
3. Rōmaji transcription of うぇ
4. Rōmaji transcription of ウェ

Jawe

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)

Kashubian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛ/
• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: we

Preposition

we

1. Alternative form of w.

Kikuyu

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛ(ː)/

Pronoun

we (second person singular)

1. you, thou

Related terms

• -aku (“your, thy”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛ/

Pronoun

we (third person singular)

1. s/he

Related terms

• -ake (“his/her”)

See also

References

• “we” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 561. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Laboya

Noun

we

1. water

References

• Greenhill, S. J., Blust. R, Gray, R. D. (2008) “The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics”, in Evolutionary Bioinformatics‎^[6], number 4, archived from the original on 18 April 2017, pages 271-283
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*wahiR”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛ/

Preposition

we [with locative]

1. Alternative form of w (especially before labial consonants and consonant clusters)

Mandarin

Romanization

we (we⁵ / we⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄨㄝ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 喂

Romanization

we

1. Nonstandard spelling of wē.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mapudungun

Adjective

we (Raguileo spelling)

1. new, recent

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Middle English

Etymology 1

from Old English wē (“we”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz (“we”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we (plural)”). Compare wit (first person dual pronoun).

Alternative forms

• whe, ve, woe, wue, weo, wæ, vue, hwe, huue

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /weː/

Pronoun

we (accusative us, we, genitive oure, possessive determiner oures)

2. First-person plural pronoun: we
3. First-person plural accusative pronoun: us

Descendants

• English: we
  • Jamaican Creole: wi
  • Sranan Tongo: wi
• Scots: we, oo
• Yola: wough, wu, wee, we, w'

See also

References

• “we, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 May 2018.

Etymology 2

From Old English wēa, from Proto-Germanic *waiwô. Doublet of wowe.

Alternative forms

• wee, wea, wæ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛː/, /weː/

Noun

we (uncountable)

2. woe, grief, sadness

References

• “wẹ̄, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-30.

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

• Certainly: Stem vowel: ê⁴
  • (originally) IPA^(key): /weː/

Etymology 1

From Old Saxon hwē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz.

Pronoun

wê (accusative wēne or wen, dative wēme or wem, genitive wes)

1. (interrogative, masculine, feminine) who

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *wiz.

Pronoun

wê

1. (personal, first person, in the plural, nominative) Alternative form of wî.

Nedebang

Noun

we

1. blood

References

• Gary Holton and Laura Robinson, The Internal History of the Alor-Pantar language family, in The Alor-Pantar languages: History and Typology, edited by Marian Klamer
• transnewguinea.org (wæ), ASJP 1 (wE i.e. wɛ), ASJP 2 (we)

Nemi

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)

North Ambrym

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water

Further reading

• Darrell T. Tryon, New Hebrides languages: an internal classification (1976)
• George William Grace, The position of the Polynesian languages within the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family (1959)

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian wī, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy.

Pronoun

we (Mooring)

1. we (first-person plural personal pronoun)

Alternative forms

• wi (Föhr-Amrum)
• wü (Sylt)

See also

Nyelâyu

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• Jim Hollyman, K. J. Hollyman, Études sur les langues du Nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (1991), page 81

Old English

Alternative forms

• wœ̄ — Northumbrian
• wæ
• ƿē

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wiz, *wīz, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy, plural of *éǵh₂.

Cognate with Old Frisian wī (West Frisian wy), Old Saxon wī (Low German wi), Old Dutch wī (Dutch wij), Old High German wir (German wir), Old Norse vér (Danish and Swedish vi), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /weː/

Pronoun

wē (personal pronoun)

1. we (nominative plural of iċ)
   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 6:9-13

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: we, whe, ve, woe, wue, weo, wæ, vue, hwe, huue
  • English: we
    • Jamaican Creole: wi
    • Sranan Tongo: wi
  • Scots: we, oo
  • Yola: wough, wu, wee, we, w'

Old Javanese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *waʀi, from Proto-Austronesian *waʀi. Doublet of wari.

Noun

we

1. sun
2. day

Usage notes

Zoetmulder used Old Javanese we as primary entry for sun and day sense, while Old Javanese wwe used for water as primary entry.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Descendants

• > Javanese: ꦮꦺ (wé) (inherited)

Etymology 2

Noun

we

1. Alternative spelling of wwe (“water”)

Further reading

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

Old Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /vɛ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /vɛ/

Preposition

we

1. Alternative form of w

Pije

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛ/
• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: we

Preposition

we

1. Alternative form of w, used mostly before words that begin with consonant clusters.

Scots

Alternative forms

• oo

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English we, from Old English wē (“we”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz (“we”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we (plural)”). Cognate with English we.

Pronunciation

• (stressed) IPA^(key): /wi/
  • (Southern Scots) IPA^(key): /wəi/ (sometimes spelled wey)
• (unstressed) IPA^(key): /wə/ (sometimes spelled wa)

Pronoun

we

1. we
2. us

See also

References

• “we, pers. pron.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 24 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
• “we, pron.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 24 May 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.

Silesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛ/
• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: we

Preposition

we

1. Alternative form of w, used mostly before words that begin with consonant clusters

Slovincian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvə/
• Rhymes: -və
• Syllabification: we

Preposition

we

1. Alternative form of w.

Further reading

• Lorentz, Friedrich (1912) “we”, in Slovinzisches Wörterbuch‎^[7] (in German), volume 2, Saint Petersburg: ОРЯС ИАН, page 1279

Spanish

Etymology

Variant of güey, representing the relaxed pronunciation of the /gw/ sounds and in some cases loss of the /i/ sound.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwe/ [ˈwe]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: we

Noun

we m or f by sense (plural wees)

1. (colloquial) dude, guy, buddy

   Synonyms: carnal, cuate, tonto, bato

2. (Mexico, colloquial slang) chump, punk, dumbass, idiot, jerk

Tocharian A

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁. Compare Tocharian B wi.

Numeral

we f

1. two

Related terms

• wu

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English where.

Adverb

we

1. where

Turkmen

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Persian وَ (va).

Conjunction

we

1. and

Etymology 2

Noun

we (definite accusative [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. The name of the Latin-script letter W/w.

Uyghur

Noun

we

1. Latin (ULY) transcription of ۋە (we)

Vamale

Noun

we

1. water

References

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

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /weː/

Noun

we

1. Soft mutation of gwe.

Mutation

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/

Noun

we

1. leaf

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[8], Pacific linguistics

Yola

Pronoun

we

1. Alternative form of wough

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, page 114

Yuanga

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

we

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

• Jim Hollyman, K. J. Hollyman, Études sur les langues du Nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (1999), page 81

Zaghawa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we/

Noun

we

1. head lice

Numeral

we

1. three

References

• Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad

Zulu

Pronoun

-we

1. Combining stem of wena.