were

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Were \Were\, v. t. & i.
   To wear. See 3d {Wear}. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Were \Were\, n.
   A weir. See {Weir}. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Were \Were\, v. t. [AS. werian.]
   To guard; to protect. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Were \Were\ (w[~e]r; 277). [AS. w[=ae]re (thou) wast, w[=ae]ron
   (we, you, they) were, w[=ae]re imp. subj. See {Was}.]
   The imperfect indicative plural, and imperfect subjunctive
   singular and plural, of the verb be. See {Be}.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Were \Were\ (w[=e]r), n. [AS. wer; akin to OS. & OHG. wer, Goth.
   wa['i]r, L. vir, Skr. v[imac]ra. Cf. {Weregild}, and
   {Werewolf}.]
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   1. A man. [Obs.]
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   2. A fine for slaying a man; the money value set upon a man's
      life; weregild. [Obs.]
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            Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was
            called his were.                      --Bosworth.
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from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
WERE. The name of a fine among the Saxons imposed upon a murderer. 
     2. The life of every man, not excepting that of the king himself, was 
estimated at a certain price, which was called the were, or vestimatio 
capitis. The amount varied according to the dignity of the person murdered. 
The price of wounds was also varied according to the nature of the wound, or 
the member injured.
antiflux / dictionary / were
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