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 /

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

²

/ wɛə /

verb

1. See beware
   another word for beware

adjective

1. See wise, wary
   another word for wary wise 1

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

Origin of ware²

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

Origin of ware³

C15: of Scandinavian origin; related to Icelandic verja

Example Sentences

Sellers model their wares on Instagram and TikTok in hopes of building large followings, and Depop does what it can to encourage this practice.

From Time

Cattle drives originated after the Civil War, when cattle-rich Texans figured they could hawk their wares to East Coasters desperate for beef.

From Ozy

Even countries like Japan, where the population is already shrinking, still benefit from a growing global labor force from which to draw workers and a growing global marketplace in which to sell their wares.

From FiveThirtyEight

Smiley sold his wares privately and was only discovered when a quick-thinking librarian found an X-Acto blade on the floor of the Beinecke, Yale University’s rare book and manuscript library.

From The Daily Beast

We’ll also have an Extra Crunch Live Pitch-Off, where folks in the audience can come on “stage” and pitch their wares.

From TechCrunch

They were also wrong when they thought Ware had pulled out a gun.

From The Daily Beast

Ware went to court claiming a number of irregularities, including issues with hundreds of absentee ballots.

From The Daily Beast

If the Broncos do manage to land Ware, their defense could be scary.

From The Daily Beast

Ware, a tenacious pass-rusher, is a 7-time Pro Bowler and the Cowboys all-time leader in sacks, with 117 in nine seasons.

From The Daily Beast

Reports say that the defending AFC champion Denver Broncos are the favorites to sign Ware.

From The Daily Beast

No man opens his ware with greater seriousness, or challenges your judgment more in the operation.

From Project Gutenberg

He left about a hundred of us here to make believe we 'uns ware goin' to attack Paris, so to give him time to git away.

From Project Gutenberg

Even the scribe has seen this, and has altered were to ware, to give a rime to the eye.

From Project Gutenberg

The parlour, having once been a ware-room, was unusually large and well adapted for a tea-party.

From Project Gutenberg

They never knew how long they had sat there on the stairs when Dr. Ware opened the bedroom door and beckoned them in.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• commodity
• fabric
• merchandise
• textile