# wer

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #34,347

## Definitions
1. A man; a male; a husband
2. A fine for slaying a man; wergeld.

## Etymology
From Middle English wer, were, from Old English wer (“man”), from Proto-West Germanic *wer, from Proto-Germanic *weraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (“man, freeman”).
Cognate with Middle High German wër (“man”), Swedish värbror (“brother-in-law”), Norwegian verfader (“father-in-law”), Latin vir (“man, husband”), Old Irish fer, Middle Welsh gwr. The original meaning of “man” is now preserved only in compounds like werewolf, were wolf (“man-wolf”) and wergeld, were gild (“man gold (payment)”).

## Easily confused with
- **wi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wi)
- **Wu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wu)
- **wo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wo)
- **wt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wt)
- **WS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-ws)
- **WV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wv)
- **WL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wl)
- **wy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wy)
- **WF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wf)
- **who** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-who)
- **why** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-why)
- **win** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-win)
- **won** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-won)
- **wow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wow)
- **wet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wet)
- **WTF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wtf)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wwe)
- **wit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wit)
- **woo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-woo)
- **Wii** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wer-vs-wii)

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