wes- / Indo-European roots

Examples of words with the root wes-: astute, bazaar, devest, divan, duopsony, himation, invest, revet, travesty, venal, vend, vest, Vesta, vile, vilify, vilipend, was, wassail, wear, were.

wes-1

To live, dwell, pass the night, with derivatives meaning "to be"

Oldest form *h2wes-.
1. O-grade (perfect tense) form *wos-. was from Old English wæs, was, from Germanic *was-.
2. Lengthened-grade form *wēs-. were from Old English wǣre (subjunctive), wǣron (plural), were, from Germanic *wēz-.
3. wassail from Old Norse vesa, vera, to be, from Germanic *wesan.
4. Perhaps suffixed form *wes-tā-. Vesta from Latin Vesta, household goddess.
5. Possibly suffixed variant form *was-tu-. astute from Latin astus, skill, craft (practiced in a town), from Greek astu, town (< "place where one dwells").
6. Suffixed form *wes-eno-. divan from Old Persian vahanam, house.

[Pokorny 1. u̯es- 1170.]

wes-2

To clothe.

Extension of eu-1
1. Suffixed o-grade (causative) form *wos-eyo-. wear from Old English werian, to wear, carry, from Germanic *wazjan.
2. Suffixed form *wes-ti-. vest; devest, invest, revet, travesty from Latin vestis, garment.
3. Suffixed form *wes-nu-. himation from Greek hennunai, to clothe, with nominal derivative heima, hīma (< *wes-mn̥), garment.

[Pokorny 5. u̯es- 1172.]

wes-3

To buy.

1. Suffixed form *wes-no-. venal, vend from Latin vēnum, sale.
2. Suffixed o-grade form *wos-no-. duopsony, monopsony from Greek ōneisthai, to buy.
3. Suffixed form *wes-ā-. bazaar from Persian bāzār, from Old Iranian *vahā-carana-, "sale-traffic"
4. Perhaps suffixed form *wes-li-. vile; revile, vilify, vilipend from Latin vīlis, cheap, base.

[Pokorny 8. u̯es- 1173.]


Browse all Indo-European or Semitic roots.