Were
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Italic title". Template:Otheruses Script error: No such module "For". Script error: No such module "Side box". 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] (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx).
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
Script error: No such module "Side box". The word has cognates in various other languages, for example, Latin Script error: No such module "Lang". (as in virility) and Gaelic Script error: No such module "Lang". (plural Script error: No such module "Lang". 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
- List of common false etymologies of English words#Other for a longer discussion of wer, wyf, and mann
- Man (word)
- For shapeshifters:
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".