Meaning

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

verb be identical to; be someone or something

verb occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-der. Proto-Germanic *wēzīn Proto-West Germanic *wāʀīn Old English wǣre Middle English were English were Inherited from Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun, *wāʀīn, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0