ware

UK/ˈwɛə//ˈwɛɹ/

ware noun: goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use. Also the alternative form of wear.

Noun (1)

ware (usually uncountable, plural wares)

(in-compounds, usually) Goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use.
- Astbury was the more successful and made frequent journeys to London, where he sold his ware and obtained further orders.1923, John Lord, Capital and steam-power, 1750–1800
- On Sunday, a Mr. Stephen Muturi Kamau, aged 20 years, was shot dead at Dandora while he was selling his ware. This is a well known hawker. He has been hawking his ware in Dandora.2002 March 28, “Kenya National Assembly Official Record”, in parliamentary debates
(in plural, usually) See wares.
(usually) Pottery or metal goods.
- damascene ware, tole ware
(countable, usually) A style or genre of artifact.
(Ireland, usually) Crockery.

Adjective (1)

ware (comparative more ware, superlative most ware)

(poetic) Aware.
- And in like wise as she said so they departed, that neither the king nor none of his council were ware of their departing.1485 July, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter I, in William Caxton, editor, Le Morte D’Arthur, volume 1
- But here thou canst not handle aught, neither make the folk ware of thee, not though thou shout thy throat hoarse. For thou and I walk here impalpable and invisible, as it were two dreams walking.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 1

Verb (1)

ware (third-person singular simple present wares, present participle waring, simple past and past participle wared)

(dialectal, obsolete) To be ware or mindful of something.
- Ware the horn and heels lest they fling a flap to thee.1450, Palladius on Husbondrieː
- Ware avoutrer untrue; Such love was never good ne may be true.c. 1450, Who Ðat Liste Lokeː
(obsolete) To protect or guard (especially oneself); to be on guard, be wary.
- Ware thee.

Adjective (2)

ware (comparative more ware, superlative most ware)

(obsolete) Wary; cautious.
- He is ware inough; he is wilye, and circumſpect for ſtirring vp any ſedition.1549 April 1 (Gregorian calendar), Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[27 Sermons Preached by the Ryght Reuerende Father in God and Constant Matir of Iesus Christe...
- Of whom be thou ware also.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Timothy 4:15

Noun (2)

ware

(UK, dialectal, obsolete) Seaweed; drift seaweed; seawrack.
- On many of the farms in East Lothian, from 100 to 120 Imperial acres are annually manured with sea-ware; and when I mention that 30 double-cart loads are spread on 1 acre, you may conceive the labour incurred in carting from 3000 to 3600 loads during a short season; for it is only in winter that...1844, Henry Stephens, The book of the farm, page 1238
- The said farm, having been possessed […] in the deed of 12th July 1794, with the privilege of taking ware from the sea-shore for the use of the farm, and having been let by them to a tenant in 1804, with "liberty of the droven sea-ware, along with the other tenants of the Elie barony, for manuring...1861 April 25, “William Baird, Appellant, v. William Ranken Fortune, Respondent”, in The Scottish Jurist: Being Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and in the House of Lords...

Noun (3)

ware (plural wares)

(Northern England, Scotland) Spring, springtime.

Verb (2)

ware

Old eye dialect spelling of were.
- Againſt this ther ware many objections made by the creditors, viz., that quoad the 9000 lƀ. a year contained in his contract of marriage, they ware præferable, being præferable and prior creditors, and ſo he was ſucceſſor titulo lucrativo poſt contractum debitum; and as to the 6000 lƀ. per annum...1684, Historical Notices of Scotish Affairs, Selected from the Manuscripts of John Lauder of Fountainhall, Bart., One of the Senators of the College of Justice, volumes second (1683–1688), Edinburgh...
- A larg concors ware standing roundc. 1815, Mary Woody, A true account of Nayomy Wise

Proper noun capitalized: Ware

Ware (countable and uncountable, plural Wares)

A hamlet in Uplyme parish, East Devon district, Devon, next to Lyme Regis in Dorset (OS grid ref SY3291)
A town and civil parish in East Hertfordshire district, Hertfordshire (OS grid ref TL3614).
A hamlet in Ash parish, Dover district, Kent (OS grid ref TR2860).
An unincorporated community in Union County, Illinois.
An unincorporated community in Sherman Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa.
An unincorporated community in Casey County, Kentucky.
A town and census-designated place therein, in Hampshire County, Massachusetts.
An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Missouri.
(abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Ware County.
(countable) A surname.

Also used as

ware is also the alternative form of wear.

ware is also the simple past of wear.

ware meaning in Indonesian

ware in Indonesian

product: perangkat

Examples of ware in a sentence

What in the world am I going to do with tarnished silver ware?2011, Tonya Kappes, Carpe Bead'em:
Artisans sell their ware in the historic district at the lower level of the Soldier's Barracks.2012, Julie Watson, Frommer's Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, page 179:
Be he quite wary, as wood is ware of fire, as thigh of bramble or of thistle, he, who may be thinking to mislead these beeves or to mispossess this cattle.1864, Thomas Oswald Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, page 385:

All 40 example sentences with ware

Forms of ware

Noun
plural	wares
Adjective
comparative	more ware
superlative	most ware
Verb
third-person singular present	wares
present participle	waring
past participle	wared
past	wared
past participle	wore
past	wore
Proper noun
plural	Wares
alternative form	Wares

Plural of ware: wares

Origin of ware

From Middle English ware, from Old English waru, from Proto-West Germanic *waru, from Proto-Germanic *warō (“attention”) as in beware, in the sense of “an object of care, a valuable”, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch, keep guard”), whence also ward. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Were (“an item for exchange, barter, or sale; ware”), Dutch waar (“goods offered for sale or use; ware”), German Ware (“ware”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk vare (“ware”), Faroese vøra (“ware”), Icelandic and Swedish vara (“ware”).

From Middle English ware, war, from Old English wær, from Proto-West Germanic *war, from Proto-Germanic *waraz.

From Middle English waren (“to be ware, be on guard, be mindful, protect, guard”), from Old English warian, from Proto-West Germanic *warōn, from Proto-Germanic *warōną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian woarje (“to guard”).

Words formed from ware

Phrases with ware

Words that rhyme with ware

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about ware

What does ware mean?: Ware means goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use.
What is ware in Indonesian?: Ware in Indonesian is perangkat. See Ware meaning in Indonesian.
How do you use ware in a sentence?: What in the world am I going to do with tarnished silver ware?
What part of speech is ware?: Ware can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce ware?: Ware is pronounced /ˈwɛə/ (UK).
What is the plural of ware?: The plural of ware is wares.

Words near ware in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: ware (page history and authors); Ware (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-ware.ogg.

Cite this entry: “ware.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ware. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.