was
[ wuhz, woz; unstressed wuh z ]
/ wʌz, wɒz; unstressed wəz /
verb
1st and 3rd person singular pt. indicative of be.
VIDEO FOR WAS
WATCH NOW: Here's A Little Reminder About "Were" Vs. "Was"
This man had a serious debate over using "were" vs. "was" ... at the pub. Makes sense. Did he figure it out?
Origin of was
before 950; Middle English; Old English
wæs, past tense singular of
wesan to be; cognate with Old Frisian, Old High German, Gothic
was, Old Norse
var; cf.
wassail
Words nearby was
Definition for was (2 of 2)
be
[ bee; unstressed bee, bi ]
/ bi; unstressed bi, bɪ /
verb (used without object), present singular 1st person am, 2nd are or (Archaic) art, 3rd is, present plural are; past singular 1st person was, 2nd were or (Archaic) wast or wert, 3rd was, past plural were; present subjunctive be; past subjunctive singular 1st person were, 2nd were or (Archaic) wert, 3rd were; past subjunctive plural were; past participle been; present participle be·ing.
auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person am, 2nd are or (Archaic) art, 3rd is, present plural are; past singular 1st person was, 2nd were or (Archaic) wast or wert, 3rd was, past plural were; present subjunctive be; past subjunctive singular 1st person were, 2nd were or (Archaic) wert, 3rd were; past subjunctive plural were; past participle been; present participle be·ing.
Origin of be
before 900; Middle English
been, Old English
bēon (
bēo- (akin to Old Frisian, Old High German
bim, German
bin, Old Saxon
bium, biom (I) am, Old English, Old High German, Old Saxon
būan, Old Norse
būa reside, Latin
fuī (I) have been, Greek
phy- grow, become, Old Irish
boí (he) was, Sanskrit
bhávati (he) becomes, is, Lithuanian
búti to be, OCS
byti, Persian
būd was)) +
-n infinitive suffix. See
am,
is,
are1,
was,
were
usage note for be
See
me.
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH be
be beeBritish Dictionary definitions for was (1 of 6)
was
/ (wɒz, unstressed wəz) /
verb
the past tense (indicative mood) of be 1
not standard
a form of the subjunctive mood used in place of were, esp in conditional sentences
if the film was to be with you, would you be able to process it?
Word Origin for was
Old English
wæs, from
wesan to be; related to Old Frisian, Old High German
was, Old Norse
var
British Dictionary definitions for was (2 of 6)
Be
the chemical symbol for
beryllium
British Dictionary definitions for was (3 of 6)
BE
abbreviation for
bill of exchange
(in the US) Board of Education
Bachelor of Education
Bachelor of Engineering
British Dictionary definitions for was (4 of 6)
Bé
abbreviation for
Baumé
British Dictionary definitions for was (5 of 6)
be
1
/ (biː, unstressed bɪ) /
verb present singular 1st person am; 2nd person are; 3rd person is; present plural are; past singular 1st person was; 2nd person were; 3rd person was; past plural were; present participle being or past participle been (intr)
Word Origin for be
Old English
bēon; related to Old High German
bim am, Latin
fui I have been, Greek
phuein to bring forth, Sanskrit
bhavati he is
British Dictionary definitions for was (6 of 6)
be
2
the internet domain name for
Belgium
Medical definitions for was
Be
The symbol for the elementberyllium
Scientific definitions for was
Be
The symbol for beryllium.
Idioms and Phrases with was
be