was

Etymology

From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, (compare Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e, from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. The paradigm of “to be” has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of three originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form be is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become”). The forms is and are are both derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Lastly, the past forms starting with w- such as was and were are from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).

verb

1. first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
   I was castigated and scorned.
2. third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
   It was a really humongous slice of cake.
   I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that. 1915, John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, section I
   He saw it clear enough, now that the lordling had pointed it out. “They couldn't have froze. Not if the Wall was weeping. It wasn't cold enough." 1 August 1996, George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire; 1), HarperCollins, →OCLC, page 16
3. (now colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
   There was three of them there.
4. (now colloquial or nonstandard, African-American Vernacular) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
5. (colloquial, nonstandard) first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
   “What happened here, Hadley?” the chief asked. “We was robbed, damn it, we was robbed.” 2001, Darrel Rachel, The Magnolias Still Bloom, page 104
6. (colloquial, nonstandard, African-American Vernacular) third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
   When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now baby / Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeah 1968, Etta James, Ellington Jordan, Billy Foster (lyrics and music), “I'd Rather Go Blind”, performed by Etta James