wos

See also: Appendix:Variations of "wos"

English

Verb

wos

1. Eye dialect spelling of was.
   • 1876, Edward Everett Hale, “Phillip Nolan's Friends; or, 'Show Your Passports!'”, in Scribner's Monthly, volume XII, number 1, page 20:

     She wos real good to 'em all, she wos, ma'am.

2. (Mid-Ulster) was
   • 1983, William Forbes Marshall, John the Liar:

     But there wos John, he had his two han's up,

Anagrams

• OSW, OWS, SOW, Sow, sow

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• wås

Etymology

From Old High German waz, hwaz, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod. Cognate with German was, Silesian East Central German woas (was), Dutch wat, English what, Danish hvad.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔːs/, /βɔːs/, [-ɔ-], [-o-], [-oː-]

Pronoun

wos

1. (interrogative) what

   Wos gibts'n heid z'Mittåg? ― What's for lunch today?

2. (relative) which (referring to the entire preceding clause)

   Sie is a guade Tänzerin, wos er bewundert. ― She is a good dancer, which he admires.

3. (relative) that, which (referring to des, ois, ollas, wos/wås, nix, and neuter substantival adjectives)

   Des is nix, wos ma ned repariern ko. ― This is nothing that you can't fix.

   Er håd ois gsågt, wos er waß. ― He has told everything that he knows.

4. (relative, chiefly East Central Bavarian) that, which, who, whom (referring to any term in the preceding clause)

   Synonym: (West Central) wo

   Des is de Frau, wos i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.

   Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, wos då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.

5. (relative, East Central Bavarian) (inserted after the relative pronouns der, de, des, dem, den, dena, dera

   Synonym: (West Central) wo

   Des is de Frau, de wos i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.

   Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, der wos då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.

6. (indefinite) something, anything

   I håb wos gfunden. ― I've found something.

7. (interrogative) why (with emphasis, astonishment or disapproval)

   Wos håst des gmåcht? ― Why on earth did you do that?

Catawba

Etymology

The word is related to wus, wuss (“wasp”).

Noun

wos

1. bee

Javanese

Romanization

wos

1. Romanization of ꦮꦺꦴꦱ꧀

Lower Sorbian

Noun

wos f inan (diminutive woska)

1. Superseded spelling of wós.

Declension

Declension of wos

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	wos	wosy	wosy
Genitive	wosy	wosowu	wosow
Dative	wosy	wosoma	wosam
Accusative	wos	wosy	wosy
Instrumental	wosu	wosoma	wosami
Locative	wosy	wosoma	wosach

Middle English

Pronoun

wos

1. Alternative form of whos (“whose”, genitive)

Mokilese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwos/

Noun

wos

1. reef

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /woːs/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *wōs, from Proto-Germanic *wōsą, from Proto-Indo-European *weys- (“to flow”). Akin to Middle Low German wose (“foam; froth”), Old English wāse (“marsh; mire”).

Noun

wōs n (nominative plural wōs)

1. juice, sap; moisture
   • Leech Book, Leech Book, Volume I, Fiveleaf, or Cinquefoil. III.

     Wiþ ǣlces dæġes mannes tȳddernysse inneweardes, nime þonne weġbrǣdan, dō on wīn and sūp þ wōs and et þā weġbrǣdan; ðonne dēah hit wið ǣġhwylcre innancundre unhǣlo.

     For every days tenderness of a man inwardly, let him take then waybread, put it in wine, and sip the juice and eat the waybread; then it is good for any inward unheal (infirmity).

Declension

Declension of wōs (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	wōs	wōs
accusative	wōs	wōs
genitive	wōses	wōsa
dative	wōse	wōsum

Related terms

• wēsan

Descendants

• Middle English: wos, wose
  • English: ooze, wooze

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Noun

wōs

1. genitive singular of wōh

Tok Pisin

Noun

wos

1. sentinel