wesan

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-.

Verb

wesan

1. to be

Conjugation

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: wēsen
  • Dutch: wezen
    • Afrikaans: wees
    • Jersey Dutch: wêze
    • Negerhollands: wees, wis
  • Limburgish: waeze

Further reading

• “wesan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Alternative forms

• weosan, wesa, wosa, uosa, wossa, uossa

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-.

The simple present forms originate from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”), which had no infinitive or past tense in Proto-Germanic, but had already formed a single paradigm with *wesaną supplying the infinitive and past tense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwe.sɑn/,

Verb

wesan (third person plural simple earon)

1. to be, exist
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of The Consolation of Philosophy

     Þā cwæþ hē, "Wāst þū hwæt mann sīe?" Þā cwæþ iċ, "Iċ wāt þæt hit biþ sāwol and līchama."

     Then he said, "Do you know what a person is?" So I said, "I know it's a soul and a body."

   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 9:12

     Þā cwǣdon hīe tō him, "Hwǣr is hē?" Þā cwæþ hē, "Iċ nāt."

     Then they said to him, "Where is he?" And he said, "I don't know."

   • 10-11th c., Beowulf, lines 1074-1081

     Wit þæt ġecwǣdon, cniht wesende, and ġebēotedon, wǣron beġen þā ġit on ġeogoðfeore, þæt wit on gārsecg ūt aldrum nēðdon, and þæt ġeæfndon swā.

     We agreed, being striplings, and promised, (we were both yet in youthful life,) that we on the ocean out our lives would venture, and that we thus accomplish'd.

Usage notes

The verb “to be” in Old English was suppletive, and used forms from at least three different roots. There were two distinct present stems, for which wesan and bēon were the two infinitive forms. The present bēon was used to express permanent truths (the “gnomic present”), while wesan was used for the imperative, present participle, and the preterite. They shared the same past tense forms.

In the Anglian dialects, the present plural indicative form earon occurred alongside the sind/sindon forms. This may have been due to influence or loaning from the Old Norse cognate vera/vesa, or it may be an earlier native form that was lost entirely in the southern dialects.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• bēon

Derived terms

• ætwesan (“to be present”)
• forewesan (“to be before”)
• ġewesan (“to be together”)
• wist (“being”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to consume, feast”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to graze”). The only (possible) attestation is in the form weaxan in line 3115 of Beowulf, argued to be a misspelling of weosan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwe.sɑn/,

Verb

wesan

1. to consume or feast
   • c. 975–1025, Beowulf (Cotton MS Vitellius A XV)‎, published 4th quarter 10th century–2nd half 16th century, lines 3114-15:

     "Nū sceal glēd fretan (weaxan wonna lēg) ⁠wigena strengel [...]"

     “Fire shall devour (and wan flames feed) on the fearless warrior "

Usage notes

• The precise verb class is unknown. It is shown here according to what would be its etymologically inherited form, a class 5 strong verb.

Conjugation

Descendants

• >? Middle English: wesen (“to tend flocks, pasture”)

Etymology 3

From Proto-West Germanic *wōsijan, from Proto-Germanic *wōsijaną, from *wōsą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈweː.sɑn/,

Verb

wēsan

1. to soak; to macerate; to dye
2. to ooze

Conjugation

Further reading

• John R. Clark Hall (1916) “wesan”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan, page 350
• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “wesan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

References

Old High German

Alternative forms

• sīn (less common infinitive, but became common over time)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-.

Verb

type=irreg

wesan

1. to be, exist

Conjugation

Derived terms

• giwesan (past participle) (in some descendants, the strong -en ending was replaced by the weak -t ending, or elided)
  • Central Franconian: jewäs
  • Cimbrian: gabéest, gebest
  • German: gewesen
  • Hunsrik: gewees, geweest
  • Luxembourgish: gewiescht
  • Pennsylvania German: gewest

Descendants

• Middle High German: wësen
  • Alemannic German: si, sii, siin, sinh, ŝchi

    Swabian:

  • Bavarian: sain

    Cimbrian: sain, soin, zèinan

    Mòcheno: sai'

    Northern Bavarian:

  • Central Franconian: sein, senn, sinn

    Hunsrik: sin

    Luxembourgish: sinn

  • East Central German:

    Erzgebirgisch:

    Upper Saxon German:

    Vilamovian: zajn

  • East Franconian:
  • German: sein (all forms); Wesen
  • Rhine Franconian: sei, senn, sinn

    Frankfurterisch:

    Pennsylvania German: sei

  • Yiddish: זײַן (zayn)

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. The forms in b- derive from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to grow, become, appear”).

Verb

wesan

1. to be

Conjugation

Synonyms

• sīn (rare infinitive)

Descendants

• Middle Low German: wēsen
  • Dutch Low Saxon: waen
  • German Low German: wesen, ween

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English white sand.

Noun

wesan

1. sand

Related terms

• nambis