wear

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

wear^¹

/wɛə/ UK
/wɛː/ British, Southern, Standard
/wɛ(ə)ɹ/ US
[wɛɚ] US
[wɛɹ] US
/weː/ Australia
/weə/ New Zealand
/wiə/
/weɾ/ Scotland
/wɜː(ɹ)/
/wɪja(r)/

Sounds like ware, where (wine–whine merger), weir, we're (cheer–chair merger), were, whir (fair–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English weren, 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)”). Compare weary.

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-).

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).

verb wears · wearing · wore · ware · worn

transitive To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, perfume, etc. He's wearing some nice pants today.
transitive To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner. He wears eyeglasses.
transitive To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance. She wore a smile all day.
To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use. You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes.
copulative, intransitive To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use. The tiles were wearing thin due to years of children's feet.
To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary. His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience.
colloquial, intransitive (in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience. Her high pitched voice is really wearing on me lately.
colloquial, with "it" To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation. I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it.
intransitive To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate. Don't worry, this fabric will wear. These pants will last you for years.
intransitive, of time To pass slowly, gradually or tediously. wear on, wear away.
To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.
Similar: gybe

noun

in compounds, uncountable Clothing. footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear
uncountable Damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time. Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a most strange, as for me it was a most fortunate, thing.
uncountable Fashion. Motley's the onely weare.
uncountable Wearing. It is obvious, of course, that a cylinder so applied is not for constant wear, and it is not intended in any way to correct any error of refraction, but is used merely as an exercise for a few minutes at a time at repeated intervals. In case of Oblique Astigmatism the wearing of the correction will

wear^²

Where it comes from

From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to guard, keep, defend; ward off, hinder, prevent, forbid; restrain; occupy, inhabit; dam up; discharge obligations on (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, protect, ward off”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).

Cognate with Scots wer, weir (“to defend, protect”), Dutch weren (“to aver, ward off”), German wehren (“to fight”), Swedish värja (“to defend, ward off”), Icelandic verja (“to defend”).

verb wears · wearing · weared · wore

UK, dialectal, transitive To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.
UK, dialectal, transitive To defend; protect.
UK, dialectal, transitive To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel. to wear the wolf from the sheep
UK, dialectal, transitive To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.

wear^³

noun wears

dated Dated form of weir Cool and clear, cool and clear, / By shining shingle, and foaming wear;

Wear^⁴

/wɪə(ɹ)/

Sounds like weir, we're · Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Probably identical with British Latin Vedra, itself of Celtic origin.

proper noun

A river in the counties of County Durham and Tyne and Wear, north east England. The cities of Durham and Sunderland are situated upon its grand banks. The train then proceeded along the wagonway in the direction of the Wear.[…] The ladies remained at the house, while the men walked to the staith on the Wear, and were shown the process of unloading the wagons into the keels by means of the coal-drop.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: put on, clothes, vesture, apparel, clothing, bust, break, fall apart, get into, wear off, wear thin, wear out, wear down, outwear, have on, tire out

Translations

Every language

verb to have on (clothes or accessories)

Español	llevar (puesto), vestir, vestir de, vestirse de, usar, portar
한국어	입다 ipda, 신다 sinda, 쓰다 sseuda, 끼다 kkida
日本語	着る kiru, 掛ける kakeru, 履く haku, 被る kaburu
中文	穿 chuān, 戴 dài
हिन्दी	पहनना pahannā
Kiswahili	kuvaa
Português	vestir, trajar, usar
Français	porter
Deutsch	tragen, anhaben
Italiano	indossare, portare
Ελληνικά	φορώ foró
Română	purta
Русский	носи́ть nosítʹ, надева́ть nadevátʹ, наде́ть nadétʹ, быть оде́тым в bytʹ odétym v
Tiếng Việt	mặc, đeo, đi, mang
العربية	لَبِسَ labisa, اِرْتَدَى irtadā
עברית	לָבַשׁ lavásh

verb to erode due to use

한국어	닳다 dalta, 해어지다 haeeojida
日本語	擦り切れる surikireru
中文	磨 mó, 磨損 /磨损 mósǔn
Português	gastar, desgastar
Français	user
Deutsch	sich abnutzen
Русский	изнашиваться iznašivatʹsja

verb to exhaust physically

Español	fatigar
Português	desgastar
Français	épuiser, fatiguer

verb nautical: to bring to other tack by bringing the wind around the stern

Français	empanner

noun clothing

Español	ropa
日本語	服 fuku, 着物 kimono
Português	vestimenta
Deutsch	Bekleidung, Kleidung, Mode
Italiano	abbigliamento
Română	îmbrăcăminte, haine

noun damage

Español	desgaste
日本語	疲労 hirō
Português	desgaste
Français	usure
Deutsch	Abnutzung, Verschleiß
Italiano	usura
Română	uzură
Русский	изно́с iznós
العربية	اِهْتِراء ihtirāʔ

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Cite this

MLA

"wear." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wear. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wear. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wear

Chicago

"wear." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wear.

BibTeX

@misc{wear_2026,
  title = {wear},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wear},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

wear

AI In plain words

wear¹

Where it comes from

verb wears · wearing · wore · ware · worn

noun

wear²

Where it comes from

verb wears · wearing · weared · wore

wear³

noun wears

Wear⁴

Where it comes from

proper noun

Thesaurus

Translations

verb to have on (clothes or accessories)

verb to erode due to use

verb to exhaust physically

verb nautical: to bring to other tack by bringing the wind around the stern

noun clothing

noun damage

wear^¹

wear^²

wear^³

Wear^⁴