Were and wer are archaic terms for adult male humans and were often used for alliteration with wife as "were and wife" in Germanic-speaking cultures (Old English were, German Wehr, Gothic waír, Old Frisian wer, Old Saxon wer, Old High German wer, Old Norse verr). In folklore and fantasy fiction, were-'s often used as a prefix applied to an animal name to indicate a type of shapeshifter (for example "were-boar"). Hyphenation used to be mandatory but's now commonly dropped, as in werecat an… (More on Were)