wos

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

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?

Etymology

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

Noun

wos

1. bee

Romanization

wos

1. Romanization of ꦮꦺꦴꦱ꧀

Noun

wos f (diminutive woska)

1. Superseded spelling of wós.

Pronoun

wos

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwos/

Noun

wos

1. reef

Alternative forms

• uurs (Mooring)
• Uurs (Sylt)

Etymology

From Old Frisian wars, from Proto-Germanic *wazrą.

Noun

wos m

1. (Föhr-Amrum) spring

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”).

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Noun

wos

1. sentinel