was

See also: wäs, waš, wąs, wäs-, Waś, and Wąs

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, (compare Scots was, Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”). 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)

(unstressed)

  • (UK, US) enPR: wəz, IPA(key): /wəz/
  • Audio (US)(file)
    (in the phrase “I was there.”)

Verb

was

  1. first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  2. third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
  3. (colloquial, nonstandard) second-person singular simple past tense indicative of be.
    • 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Poison Belt:
      "Was you outside the Bank of England, sir?"
  4. (colloquial, nonstandard) first-person plural simple past tense indicative of be
    • 2001, Darrel Rachel, The Magnolias Still Bloom, page 104:
      “What happened here, Hadley?” the chief asked. “We was robbed, damn it, we was robbed.”

Derived terms

See also

Anagrams

Afrikaans

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

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʋɑs/
  • Audio(file)
  • 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.

Verb

was

  1. first-person singular present indicative of wassen
  2. imperative of wassen

Etymology 2

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

Noun

was m, n (plural wassen)

  1. wax
  2. growth

Verb

was

  1. first-person singular present indicative of wassen
  2. imperative of wassen
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Cognate with English was.

Verb

was

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

Anagrams

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 Dutch wat, English what, Danish hvad. More at what.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vas/
  • audio(file)
  • Audio (Bavarian)(file)
  • Rhymes: -as

Pronoun

was

  1. (interrogative) what
    Was machst du heute?
    What are you doing today?
  2. (relative) which (referring to the entire preceding clause)
    Sie tanzte gut, was er bewunderte.
    She was a good dancer, which he admired.
  3. (relative) that, which (referring to das, alles, etwas, nichts, and neuter substantival adjectives)
    Das ist alles, was ich will.
    That's all that I want.
    Das ist das Beste, was mir passieren konnte.
    That's the best that could have happened to me.
  4. (relative, colloquial) that, which (referring to neuter singular nouns, instead of standard das)
    Siehst du das weiße Haus, was renoviert wird?
    Do you see that white house, which is being renovated?
  5. (indefinite, colloquial) something, anything (instead of standard etwas)
    Ich hab was gefunden.
    I've found something.

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”).
  • 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.

Determiner

was

  1. (archaic) what; what kind of
      • 1718, Johann Caspar Schwartz, Johann Caspar Schwartzens Fünfftes Dutzend Wund-artzneyischer Anmerckungen von vielerley Arten der Geschwülste und Geschwüre, Hamburg, page 97:
        [...] denen Thieren und Gewächsen aber, von was Arten und Geschlechten selbige auch nur immer seyn mögen, [...]
      • 1742, Johann Christoph Gottsched, Versuch einer Critischen Dichtkunst, Leipzig, page 442:
        Held August, du kühner Krieger! / Du bist der beglückte Sieger, / Vor, und in, und nach dem Fall. / Auf was Arten, auf was Weisen, / Soll man deine Thaten preisen / Hier und da, und überall?
      • 1786, Johann Michael Schosulan, Gründlicher Unterricht für das Landvolk: Wie und auf was Weise jedermann seinen etrunkenen, erhängten, erstickten, erfrornen, von Hitze verschmachteten und von Blitz berührten unglücklichen Nebenmenschen Hülfe leisten, der Retter aber für sein eigenes Leben sich selbst sicher stellen solle., Wien, title:
        Wie und auf was Weise jedermann seinen [...] Nebenmenschen Hülfe leisten [...] solle.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

Adverb

was

  1. (colloquial) why
    Was bist du heute so stumm?
    Why are you so silent today?
  2. (colloquial) a little, somewhat
    Ich komm' was später.
    I'll arrive a little later.

Synonyms

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
    Was machst-du?
    What are you doing?
  2. (relative) what
    Was-ich net esse, essd de Hund.
    What I don't eat, the dog eats.
  3. (indefinite) something, anything
    Noch was?
    Anything else?

See also

Further reading

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-person and third-person singular past indicative of wēsen

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German was, Dutch wat, English what.

Pronoun

was

  1. (interrogative) what

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vas/

Pronoun

was

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

Scots

Noun

was

  1. plural of wa

Seychellois Creole

Etymology

From French ouest

Noun

was

  1. west

Reference

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

Somali

Verb

was

  1. fuck

Spanish

Etymology

From WhatsApp

Noun

was m (plural was)

  1. A message sent or received over WhatsApp

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English watch.

Verb

was

  1. angel; any supernatural creature in heaven according to Christian theology
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 3:24 (translation here):
      God i rausim pinis man na meri, na em i makim ol strongpela ensel bilong sanap na was i stap long hap sankamap bilong gaden Iden. Na tu em i putim wanpela bainat i gat paia i lait long en na i save tanim tanim long olgeta hap. Oltaim ol dispela ensel wantaim dispela bainat i save was i stap, nogut wanpela man i go klostu long dispela diwai bilong givim laip.
This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Tok Pisin is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Welsh

Noun

was

  1. Soft mutation of gwas.
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