Etimology
From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to clothe, cover over; put on, wear, use; stock (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *wazjaną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress, put on (clothes)”). Cognate to Sanskrit वस्ते (váste), Ancient Greek ἕννυμι (hénnumi, “put on”), Latin vestis (“garment”) (English vest), Albanian vesh (“dress up, wear”), Tocharian B wäs-, Old Armenian զգենում (zgenum), Welsh gwisgo, Hittite 𒉿𒀸- (waš-). Originally a weak verb (i.e. with a past tense in -ed), it became irregular during the Middle English period by analogy with verbs like beren (whence bear) and teren (whence tear).
verb
wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past wore or (obsolete) ware, past participle worn or (now colloquial and nonstandard) wore or (obsolete) worne)
(transitive) To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, etc.
(transitive) To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner.
(transitive) To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance.
(colloquial, with "it") To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation.
To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.
(intransitive, copulative) To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use.
To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.
(intransitive) To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate.
(intransitive, colloquial) (in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience.
(intransitive, of time) To pass slowly, gradually or tediously.
(nautical) To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind. Also written "ware". Past: weared, or wore/worn.
Examples
He's wearing some nice pants today. She wore her medals with pride. Please wear your seatbelt. Can you wear makeup and sunscreen at the same time? He was wearing his lunch after tripping and falling into the buffet.
It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’
He wears eyeglasses. She wears her hair in braids.
It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.
She wore a smile all day. He walked out of the courtroom wearing an air of satisfaction.
Then the bridegroom came slowly up the walk, wearing a very unbridegroomlike aspect, […]
I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it.
You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes. The water has slowly worn a channel into these rocks. Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks. Exile had worn the man to a shadow.
And They made the Moon, with his face wrinkled with many mountains and worn with a thousand valleys, to regard with pale eyes the games of the small gods, and to watch throughout the resting time of Māna-Yood-Sushāī; to watch, to regard all things, and be silent.
The tiles were wearing thin due to years of children's feet.
His stock of money […] began to wear very low.
The family that had raised it wore out in the earlier part of this century
His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience. Toil and care soon wear the spirit. Our physical advantage allowed us to wear the other team out and win.
Our ſoules, whoſe faculties can comprehendThe wondrous Architecture of the world:And meaſure euery wandring planets courſe,Still climing after knowledge infinite,And alwaies mouing as the reſtles ſpheares,Wils vs to weare our ſelues & neuer reſt, […]
Don't worry, this fabric will wear. These pants will last you for years. This color wears so well. I must have washed this sweater a thousand times. I have to say, our friendship has worn pretty well. It's hard to get to know him, but he wears well.
Her high pitched voice is really wearing on me lately.
wear on, wear away. As the years wore on, we seemed to have less and less in common.
Away, I say; time wears.
Thus wore out night.
That loss is common would not makeMy own less bitter, rather more:Too common! Never morning woreTo evening, but some heart did break.
Synonym: gybe
Related words
related terms
vest
noun
wear (uncountable)
(in combination) Clothing.
Damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time.
Fashion.
Wearing.
Examples
footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear
Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.
Motley's the onely weare.
It is obvious, of course, that a cylinder so applied is not for constant wear, and it is not intended in any way to correct any error of refraction, but is used merely as an exercise for a few minutes at a time at repeated intervals. In case of Oblique Astigmatism the wearing of the correction will frequently fail to give satisfaction when complicated by oblique muscular trouble, […]
Prolonged wear of the interceptor body armor outer tactical vest is frequently blamed for common complaints of neck and shoulder pain. […] Even if patients improved after a period of light duty and shoulder rehabilitation, many complained of pain after returning to OTV wear when their shoulders again became the focal point of weight distribution.
Softer crystals are best reserved for occasional wear, whereas harder crystals can be worn every day.
Etimology
From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to guard, keep, defend; ward off, hinder, prevent, forbid; restrain; occupy, inhabit; dam up; discharge obligations on (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, protect, ward off”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”). Cognate with Scots wer, weir (“to defend, protect”), Dutch weren (“to aver, ward off”), German wehren (“to fight”), Swedish värja (“to defend, ward off”), Icelandic verja (“to defend”).
verb
wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past weared or wore, past participle weared or worn or (obsolete) worne)
(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.
(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To defend; protect.
(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.
(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.
Examples
to wear the wolf from the sheep
noun
wear (plural wears)
Dated form of weir.