Etymology: Old English wár , corresponding to North Frisian wier neuter seaweed, pondweed, whence probably Dutch wier neuter (first found in Kilian, referred to the ‘Holland’ dialect), representing Old Germanic *wairo-m , < *wai- : wī- to bind: see wire n.¹

Etymology: Old English waru (feminine) = Old Frisian ware, Old Saxon, Old High German wara (Middle High German ware, war) < Old Germanic *warō, < *war- to guard, watch < pre-Germanic *wor-; compare Greek ϝορ- in θυρωρός (*θυρᾱ-ϝορός) doorkeeper.

Etymology: Old English waru (feminine) = Old Frisian were, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch ware (Dutch waar), Old Norse vara (Swedish vara, Danish vare). Middle High German ware, war, German ware (earlier waare) are from Middle Low German or Middle DutchProbably the same word as ware n.² used in the concrete sense ‘object of care’.

Etymology: Seems to represent Old English wǽr pledge; the form may have been assimilated to warant warrant n.¹

Etymology: < Old Norse vár (Icelandic vor, Swedish vår, Norwegian, Danish vaar). By some regarded as cognate with Latin vēr, Greek ἔαρ ( < *wesr), but the phonology has not been satisfactorily explained.

Etymology: < Old Norse *var (compare vare serum) = Middle Swedish, Norwegian var , Old High German warah < Old Germanic *war χo-z in the same sense. Compare waribreed n.

Etymology: Old English wær = Old Saxon war , Old Norse var-r (Danish, Swedish var ), Gothic war-s (in warai sijaima νηϕῶμεν 1 Thessalonians v. 6) < Old Germanic *waro- , < *war- to observe, take care; see ware n.² Compare aware adj. (Old English gewær < Old Germanic *giwaro-).

Etymology: Old English warian = Old Frisian waria , Old Saxon waron , Old High German be-warôn = beware v.¹ (Middle High German waren ), Old Norse vara (Swedish vara , Danish vare ) < Old Germanic *warōjan , < *warō ware n.² In Middle English the native word coalesced with ware < Old French (north-eastern) ware-r (= Central Old French, modern French garer), of the same meaning, adopted < Germanic. The interjectional imperative ware! used in hunting is probably to be regarded as of French origin. In Old English the verb had, in addition to the senses illustrated below, certain other meanings (‘to guard, defend; to inhabit’) which did not survive into Middle English.

Etymology: < Old Norse verja, past tense varðe , past participle varið-r , ‘to invest (money), lay out’, a transferred use of the primary sense ‘to clothe’: compare the corresponding Old English węrian to clothe, to wear: see wear v.¹