ware

¹

[ wair ]

noun

1. Usually wares.
   1. articles of merchandise or manufacture; goods:

      a peddler selling his wares.

   2. any intangible items, as services or products of artistic or intellectual creativity, that are saleable:

      an actor advertising his wares.

2. a specified kind or class of merchandise or of manufactured article (usually used in combination): -ware.

   silverware;

   glassware.

3. pottery, or a particular kind of pottery:

   delft ware.

4. Archaeology. a group of ceramic types classified according to paste and texture, surface modification, as burnish or glaze, and decorative motifs rather than shape and color.

ware

²

[ wair ]

adjective

1. watchful, wary, or cautious.
2. aware; conscious.

verb (used with object)

, wared, war·ing.

1. to beware of (usually used in the imperative).

ware

³

[ wair ]

verb (used with object)

, Scot. and North England.

, wared, war·ing.

1. to spend; expend.

ware

⁴

[ wair ]

noun

, Scot. and North England.

1. the first season in the year; spring.

-ware

⁵

1. a combining form extracted from software, occurring as the final element in words that refer to a specified kind or class of software: ware ¹( def 2 ).

   spyware;

   shareware.

ware

¹

/ wɛə /

verb

1. another word for beware

adjective

1. another word for wary wise 1

ware

²

/ wɛə /

noun

1. functioning as singular articles of the same kind or material

   glassware

   silverware

2. porcelain or pottery of a specified type

   jasper ware

   agateware

ware

³

/ wɛə /

verb

1. dialect.
   tr to spend or squander

–ware

1. A suffix that means “software,” as in shareware.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ware¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English waru; cognate with German Ware

Origin of ware²

First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective; Old English adjective wær; cognate with German gewahr “aware,” Old Norse varr “aware”

Origin of ware³

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old Norse verja “to spend, invest”

Origin of ware⁴

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old Norse vār “spring”; perhaps akin to Latin vēr, Greek éar “spring”; vernal

Word History and Origins

Origin of ware¹

Old English wær; related to Old Saxon, Old High German giwar, Old Norse varr, Gothic war, Latin vereor. See aware , beware

Origin of ware²

Old English waru; related to Old Frisian were, Old Norse vara, Middle Dutch Ware

Origin of ware³

C15: of Scandinavian origin; related to Icelandic verja

Example Sentences

The collection also includes a chicken cup used to serve wine for the Chenghua emperor and Ru wares made for the Northern Song dynasty court around 1086.

From BBC

National Highways said the road was expected to remain closed throughout Tuesday morning, while enquiries ware carried out.

From BBC

“As part of the merger process, meals, service ware and other soft elements have been upgraded and incorporates aspects of both Vistara and Air India,” an Air India spokesperson said in an email response.

From BBC

For Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays, she has sales of smaller, more affordable wares.

From Los Angeles Times

Exhibits include Bronze Age pottery fragments painstakingly recreated to reveal cooking ware and fine cups and bowls and a pot with a preserved, freshly cooked meal inside.

From BBC

Related Words

• commodity
• fabric
• merchandise
• textile