wesan

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

wesan

1. to be

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

• “wesan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

• wosa, weosan

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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwe.sɑn/, [ˈwe.zɑn]

wesan

1. to be, exist

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.

• bēon

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

From Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to consume, feast”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to graze”).[1] One attestation is the form weaxan in line 3115 of s:Beowulf, argued to be a misspelling of weosan.[2]

• IPA^(key): /ˈwe.sɑn/, [ˈwe.zɑn]

wesan

1. to feast

From Proto-Germanic *wōsijaną, from *wōsą.

• IPA^(key): /ˈweː.sɑn/, [ˈweː.zɑn]

wēsan

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

• 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.

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

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

wesan

1. to be, exist

• 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

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

    Swabian:

  • Bavarian: sain

    Cimbrian: sain, soin, zèinan

    Mòcheno: sai'

    Northern Bavarian: [z̥ai̯]

  • Central Franconian: sein, senn, sinn

    Hunsrik: sin

    Luxembourgish: sinn

  • East Central German:

    Erzgebirgisch: [saɪ]

    Upper Saxon:

    Vilamovian: zajn

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

    Frankfurterisch: [sɑ̃ɪ]

    Pennsylvania German: sei

  • Yiddish: זײַן‎ (zayn)

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”).

wesan

1. to be

• sīn (rare infinitive)

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

From English white sand.

wesan

1. sand

• nambis