English 'was' comes not from *h₁es- (to be) but from a completely different PIE root *h₂wes- (to dwell, to stay), making 'to be' a Frankenstein verb stitched from three unrelated PIE verbs — and connecting 'was' to the Roman hearth goddess Vesta.
First and third person singular past tense of 'be.'
From Old English 'wæs' (was), from Proto-Germanic *was (was, dwelt), from PIE *h₂wes- (to dwell, to stay, to pass the night). This is NOT the same root as 'is' — the English verb 'to be' fuses THREE separate PIE verbs: *h₁es- (to be) → am/is, *bʰuH- (to become) → be/been, and *h₂wes- (to dwell) → was/were. 'Was' originally meant 'dwelt' or 'stayed' — the concept of past existence was expressed through the metaphor of having inhabited a place. Key roots: *h₂wes- (Proto-Indo-European: "to dwell, to stay, to pass the
'Was' does not come from the same root as 'is.' English 'to be' is actually THREE verbs stitched together: 'am/is' from PIE *h₁es- (to exist), 'be/been' from *bʰuH- (to become), and 'was/were' from *h₂wes- (to dwell). 'Was' originally meant 'I dwelt.' The Roman goddess Vesta — guardian of the hearth fire — comes from the same root: she is the one who 'stays' in the home.