were

Etymology 1

From Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-Germanic *wēz-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.

verb

1. second-person singular simple past indicative of be
   John, you were the only person to see him.
2. first/second/third-person plural simple past indicative of be
   We were about to leave.
   Mary and John, you were right.
   They were a fine group.
   They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
3. first/second/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive of be
   I wish that it were Sunday.
   Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...) Were father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...) I wish that I were with you. with “if” omitted, put first in an “if” clause
   Maccabi would have been out of contention were it not for Stoke's profligacy, but their fortune eventually ran out as the visitors opened the scoring. November 3, 2011, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport
4. (Northern England) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.

Etymology 2

From Middle English were, wer, see wer.

noun

1. Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)
   1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.
   If by that he failed to pay or give security for the were, or fine, at which murder was legally rated; he might be put to death by the relatives of the murdered man. 1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History … arranged … by T. Young, page 19
   Written statutes busied themselves only with the amount of the were, or fine, or (for the first century after the Conquest) with the method of procedure. 1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13
   The consequence of conviction was, the payment to the person injured, of a were, or penalty, proportioned to the offencel but though this was the ordinary course, the recovery of the were was not the only object of the proceedings. "The were," says Reeve, "in cases of homicide, and the fines that were paid in cases of theft of various kinds, were only to redeem the offender from the proper punishment of the law, which was death, and that was reddemable, not only by paying money, but by undergoing some personal pains; hence it is that we hear a great variety of corporal punishments..."... 2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, pages 12–13

Etymology 3

Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).

noun

1. (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.