wear

verb
/wɛə/UK/wɛː//wɛ(ə)ɹ/US/wɪə(ɹ)/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wes- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *woséyeti Proto-Germanic *wazjaną Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan Old English werian Middle English weren English wear Inherited from Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to clothe, cover over; put on, wear, use; stock (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *wazjaną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress, put on (clothes)”). Cognate to Sanskrit वस्ते (váste), Ancient Greek ἕννυμι (hénnumi, “put on”), Latin vestis (“garment”) (English vest), Albanian vesh (“dress up, wear”), Tocharian B wäs-, Old Armenian զգենում (zgenum), Welsh gwisgo, Hittite 𒉿𒀸- (waš-). Originally a weak verb (i.e. with a past tense in -ed), it became irregular during the Middle English period by analogy with verbs like beren (whence bear) and teren (whence tear).

  1. derived from *wes-
  2. inherited from *wazjaną
  3. inherited from *waʀjan
  4. inherited from werian
  5. inherited from weren

Definitions

  1. To have on

    To have on:

    • He's wearing some nice pants today.
    • She wore her medals with pride.
    • Please wear your seatbelt.
  2. To erode

    To erode:

    • You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes.
    • The water has slowly worn a channel into these rocks.
    • Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks.
  3. To endure

    To endure:

    • I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it.
  4. + 11 more definitions
    1. To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as…

      To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.

    2. Clothing.

      • footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear
    3. Damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time.

      • Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a most strange, as for me it was a most fortunate, thing.
    4. Fashion.

      • Motley's the onely weare.
    5. Wearing.

      • Softer crystals are best reserved for occasional wear, whereas harder crystals can be worn every day.
    6. To guard

      To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.

    7. To defend

      To defend; protect.

    8. To ward off

      To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.

      • to wear the wolf from the sheep
    9. To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.

    10. Dated form of weir.

      • Cool and clear, cool and clear, / By shining shingle, and foaming wear;
    11. A river in the counties of County Durham and Tyne and Wear, north east England. The…

      A river in the counties of County Durham and Tyne and Wear, north east England. The cities of Durham and Sunderland are situated upon its grand banks.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at wear. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01wear02endure03carry04convey05communicate06share07network08elements

A definitional loop anchored at wear. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at wear

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA