From Middle Englishwe, from Old Englishwē(“we”), from Proto-Germanic*wīz, *wiz(“we”), from Proto-Indo-European*wéy(“we (plural)”). Cognate with Scotswee, we(“we”), North Frisianwe(“we”), West Frisianwy(“we”), Low Germanwi(“we”), Dutchwe, wij(“we”), Germanwir(“we”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegianvi(“we”), Icelandicvér, við(“we”), Avestan𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬨 (vaēm), Sanskritवयम्(vayám).
Pronunciation
enPR: wē, IPA(key): /wiː/
(General American) IPA(key): /wi/
Homophones: wee, Wii, whee(in accents with the wine-whine merger)
(personal) The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person (not the person being addressed). (This is the exclusive we.)
(personal) The speaker(s)/writer(s) and the person(s) being addressed. (This is the inclusive we.)
(personal) The speaker/writer alone. (This use of we is the editorial we, used by writers and others, including royalty—the royal we—as a less personal substitute for I. The reflexive case of this sense of we is ourself.)
(personal)The plural form of you, including everyone being addressed.
(personal, often considered patronising)A second- or third-person pronoun for a person in the speaker's care.
Descendants
Jamaican Creole: wi
Sranan Tongo: wi
Translations
Determiner
we
The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person.
We Canadians like to think of ourselves as different.
Anagrams
EW, ew
Abinomn
Noun
we
tree kangaroo
References
Newguineaworld, citing Donohue and Musgrave, Abinomn nominal number (2007: 365)
Anguthimri
Noun
we
(Mpakwithi) owl
References
Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 189
Caac
Determiner
we
water
kô-ny we
'my (glass/drink of) water'
References
A Study of Space in Caac, an Oceanic Language
Chuukese
Determiner
we (pluralkewe)
(possessive subject marker) the (singular)
Dadibi
Noun
wẹ
water
Synonyms
ạị
References
Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67
Karl James Franklin, Pacific Linguistics (1973, →ISBN, page 130: Polopa so/sou woman, cf. DAR sou female animal but we woman. Several multiple cognate sets appeared in the data. Daribi uses both ạị and wẹ for water; some Polopa speakers gave one term, some another. Both are probably known everywhere.
Dutch
Etymology
See wij.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ʋə/
Pronoun
we (personal pronoun)
we
Inflection
Synonyms
wij
See also
ons
Fijian
Noun
we
scar
Fwâi
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
Galoli
Noun
we
(Talur) water
References
Bryan Hinton, The languages of Wetar, in Spices from the east: Papers in languages of eastern Indonesia (2000), page 121
Haeke
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /we/
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
Jean Claude Rivierre, Sabine Ehrhart, Raymond Diéla, Le Bwatoo: et les dialectes de la région de Koné (2006)
Haveke
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /we/
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
Jean Claude Rivierre, Sabine Ehrhart, Raymond Diéla, Le Bwatoo: et les dialectes de la région de Koné (2006)
Hmwaveke
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water
References
Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "ʰMoavekɛ" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Ido
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /we/, /wɛ/
Noun
we (pluralwe-i)
The name of the Latin script letter W/w.
See also
(Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze(Category: io:Latin letter names)
Japanese
Romanization
we
Rōmaji transcription of ゑ
Rōmaji transcription of ヱ
Rōmaji transcription of うぇ
Rōmaji transcription of ウェ
Jawe
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
Kikuyu
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /wɛ(ː)/
Pronoun
we (second person singular)
you, thou
Related terms
-aku(“your, thy”)
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /wɛ/
Pronoun
we (third person singular)
s/he
Related terms
-ake(“his/her”)
See also
References
“we” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 561. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Laboya
Noun
we
water
References
Greenhill, S. J.; Blust. R; Gray, R. D. (2008) , “The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics”, in Evolutionary Bioinformatics[2], issue 4, pages 271-283
Laboya in Austronesian Comparative Dictionary
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /wɛ/
Preposition
we (with locative)
Alternative form of w(especially before labial consonants and consonant clusters)
from Old Englishwē(“we”), from Proto-Germanic*wīz, *wiz(“we”), from Proto-Indo-European*wéy(“we (plural)”).
Alternative forms
whe, ve, woe, wue, weo, wæ, hwe, vue, huue
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /weː/
Pronoun
we (accusativeus, we, genitiveoure, possessive determineroures)
First-person plural pronoun:we
First-person plural accusative pronoun:us
Descendants
English: we
Jamaican Creole: wi
Sranan Tongo: wi
Scots: we, wee, wa
Yola: wee
See also
wit(first person dual pronoun)
References
“we (pron.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 May 2018.
Etymology 2
From Old Englishwēa, from Proto-Germanic*waiwô. Doublet of wowe.
Alternative forms
wee, wea, wæ
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /wɛː/, /weː/
Noun
we (uncountable)
woe, grief, sadness
References
“wẹ̄ (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-30.
Middle Low German
Pronunciation
Certainly: Stem vowel: ê⁴
(originally) IPA(key): /weː/
Etymology 1
From Old Saxonhwē, from Proto-West Germanic*hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic*hwaz.
Pronoun
wê (accusativewēneorwen, dativewēmeorwem, genitivewes)
(interrogative, masculine, feminine) who
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic*wiz.
Pronoun
wê
(personal, first person,in the plural, nominative)Alternative form of wî.
Nedebang
Noun
we
blood
References
Gary Holton and Laura Robinson, The Internal History of the Alor-Pantar language family, in The Alor-Pantar languages: History and Typology, edited by Marian Klamer
transnewguinea.org (wæ), ASJP 1 (wE i.e. wɛ), ASJP 2 (we)
Nemi
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
North Ambrym
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water
Further reading
Darrell T. Tryon, New Hebrides languages: an internal classification (1976)
George William Grace, The position of the Polynesian languages within the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family (1959)
Nyâlayu
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
Jim Hollyman, K. J. Hollyman, Études sur les langues du Nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (1991), page 81
Old English
Alternative forms
wæ
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic*wiz, *wīz, from Proto-Indo-European*wéy-, plural of *éǵh₂. Cognate with Old Frisianwī (West Frisianwy), Old Saxonwī (Low Germanwi), Old Dutchwī (Dutchwij), Old High Germanwir (Germanwir), Old Norsevér (Danish and Swedishvi), Gothic𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃(weis).
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
Polish
Alternative forms
w
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic*vъ(n), from Proto-Indo-European*én
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /vɛ/
Preposition
we (before words that begin with awkward consonant clusters)
(+ locative) in
(+ accusative) into, in
Further reading
we in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
we in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Spanish
Etymology
Variant of güey, representing the relaxed pronunciation of the /gw/ sounds and in some cases loss of the /i/ sound.
From Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁. Compare Tocharian Bwi.
Numeral
wef
two
Related terms
wu
Tok Pisin
Etymology
From Englishwhere.
Adverb
we
where
Turkmen
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Conjunction
we
and
Etymology 2
Noun
we (definite accusative?, plural?)
The name of the Latin-script letter W.
Uyghur
Noun
we
Latin (ULY) transcription of ۋە (we)
Vamale
Noun
we
water
References
Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Welsh
Noun
we
Soft mutation of gwe.
Mutation
Yuaga
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic*waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*wahiʀ.
Noun
we
water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
Jim Hollyman, K. J. Hollyman, Études sur les langues du Nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (1999), page 81