hverr

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *hweraz, whence also Old English hwer and Old High German wer. Ultimately from the same root as Irish coire (“kettle, cauldron”), Welsh pair, Sanskrit चरु (carú), Russian чара (čara, “bowl”).

Noun

hverr m

1. cauldron, boiler

   Synonym: ketill

2. (Iceland) hot spring

Declension

Declension of hverr (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	hverr	hverrinn	hverar	hverarnir
accusative	hver	hverinn	hvera	hverana
dative	hveri	hverinum	hverum	hverunum
genitive	hvers	hversins	hvera	hveranna

Descendants

• Icelandic: hver m

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *hwarjaz (“which, what (of many)”), *hwarjazuh (“each”), cognate with Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃 (ƕarjis, “which”), 𐍈𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐌶𐌿𐌷 (ƕarjizuh, “each”). The meaning "who", "which", rather comes from Proto-Germanic *hwaz; see *hver.

Pronoun

hverr (feminine hver, neuter hvert)

1. who, which (of many)
2. each, every
   • Anonymous, Hávamál stanza 77.4–6:

     Ek veit einn, · at aldrigi deyr:
     dómr of dauðan hvern

     I know one which never dies:
     the fame of every dead man.

Declension

Declension of hverr

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hverr	hver	hvert
accusative	hvern, hverjan	hverja	hvert
dative	hverjum	hverri	hverju
genitive	hvers	hverrar	hvers
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hverir	hverjar	hver
accusative	hverja	hverjar	hver
dative	hverjum	hverjum	hverjum
genitive	hverra	hverra	hverra

Derived terms

• hvergi
• hvernig

Descendants

• Icelandic: hver
• Faroese: hvør
• Norwegian Nynorsk: kvar, kven; (dialectal) kver
• Old Swedish: hvar (acc. fem. hvaria)
  • Swedish: var, varje, (pre-1906 spelling) hvar, hvarje
• Danish: hver
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hver
• Old Gutnish: hwer

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “hverr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive