# ware

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈwɛə/ · frequency rank #14,048

## Definitions
1. Goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use.
2. See wares.
3. Pottery or metal goods.
4. A style or genre of artifact.
5. Crockery.

## Etymology
From Middle English ware, from Old English waru, from Proto-West Germanic *waru, from Proto-Germanic *warō (“attention”) as in beware, in the sense of “an object of care, a valuable”, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch, keep guard”), whence also ward.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Were (“an item for exchange, barter, or sale; ware”), Dutch waar (“goods offered for sale or use; ware”), German Ware (“ware”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk vare (“ware”), Faroese vøra (“ware”), Icelandic and Swedish vara (“ware”).

## Easily confused with
- **we** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-we)
- **was** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-was)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-way)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wwe)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wax)
- **wee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wee)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wat)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-woe)
- **Wie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wie)
- **wer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wer)
- **wry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wry)
- **wor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wor)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wye)
- **WAV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wav)
- **were** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-were)
- **work** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-work)
- **word** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-word)
- **wife** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wife)
- **ways** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-ways)
- **wide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wide)

## Common misspellings (4)
`awre`, `warre`, `wrae`, `wware`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ware