Meaning

verb have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)

noun a unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters

verb be identical to; be someone or something

originFrom Middle English aren, from Old English (Anglian) earun, earon (“are”, plural). Possibly reinforced by the Old Norse plural forms in er-, this displaced the alternative forms Old English sind and bēoþ. In the second person singular it displaced archaic art. Further etymology controversial: * The English…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0