Answered

How to spell answered

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce answered

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does answered mean?

1. verbPast tense of answer: to have replied to a question, letter, call, or request.

Answered in a sentence

• She answered every question on the exam within the hour.

• He answered the phone before the second ring.

Where does answered come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past tense of 'answer', which descends from the Old English noun 'andswaru' and verb 'andswarian', meaning a reply or a sworn statement made in response to a charge. The first part, 'and-', meant 'against' or 'in return', while the second part comes from the same root as 'swear', so the original idea was literally to swear back against an accusation. That courtroom flavour faded over the centuries until 'answer' simply meant any kind of reply. Because the word is native Germanic rather than borrowed from Latin or French, it kept its awkward spelling, including the silent 'w' that survives from 'swerian' even though we no longer pronounce it. That hidden 'w' between the 's' and the 'e' is the spelling trap that catches writers who spell by ear.

How the word is built

• and- (against, in reply)
• swer (from swerian: to swear, affirm)
• -ed (past tense suffix)