Etymology
1. O.E.
werian "to clothe, put on," from P.Gmc.
*wazjanan (cf. O.N.
verja, O.H.G.
werian, Goth.
gawasjan "to clothe"), from PIE
*wes- "to clothe" (cf. Skt.
vaste "he puts on,"
vasanam "garment;" Avestan
vah-; Gk.
esthes "clothing,"
hennymi "to clothe,"
eima "garment;" L.
vestire; Welsh
gwisgo, Breton
gwiska; O.E.
wæstling "sheet, blanket;" Hittite
washshush "garments,"
washanzi "they dress"). The Gmc. forms "were homonyms of the vb. for 'prevent, ward off, protect' (Goth.
warjan, O.E.
werian, etc.), and this was prob. a factor in their early displacement in most of the Gmc. languages" [Buck]. Shifted from a weak verb (past tense and pp.
wered) to a strong one (past tense
wore, p.p.
worn) in 14c. on analogy of rhyming strong verbs such as
bear and
tear. Secondary sense of "use up, gradually damage" (c.1275) is from effect of continued use on clothes. To be
the worse for wear is attested from 1782;
wear and tear is first recorded 1666.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *wes-
4. Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
5. Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti
6. Proto-Indo-European *woséyeti
7. Proto-Germanic *wazjaną
8. Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan
9. Old English werian
10. Middle English weren
11. English wear
12. Inherited 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)”).
13. 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-).
14. 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). See: Middle English '
weren', Middle English '
weren', Old English '
werian', Proto-Germanic '
*wazjaną', Sanskrit '
वस्ते', English '
vest', Classical Armenian '
զգենում', Welsh '
gwisgo'.
Verbs referencing "wear"
English
vest, English
travesty, Sanskrit
वस्ते, Luxembourgish
wieren, Sranan
weri, Tok Pisin werim, German, Pennsylvania
waere, Danish
værge.