as it were

Signification (Anglais)

1. (not-comparable) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see as, it, were.
2. (not-comparable) Used to indicate that a word or statement is perhaps not exact though practically right; as if it were so.
3. (not-comparable) Used to draw attention to the use of a metaphor, sometimes to prevent confusion or to highlight wordplay.

Concepts

pour ainsi dire

en quelque sorte

virtuellement

manière de parler

soi disant

comme si

pour dire

de fait

Synonymes

so to speak

quasi

as if

as though

in a way

so to call it

you could say

#quasi |quasi

sort of

to a certain extent

virtually

one might say

Traductions

sozusagen

por decirlo así

gleichsam

por assim dizer

gewissermaßen

per dir-ho així

en cierto sentido

sicut

per così dire

potenzialmente

in certo qual modo

virtualmente

com si

so gut wie

#quasi |quasi

Étymologie (Anglais)

Hérité de moyen anglais: as it were

Hérité de ancien anglais: *ealswā hit wǣre

In summary

From Middle English as it were, as hyt were, als it were, als hit were, from Old English *ealswā hit wǣre, attested only as swā hit wǣre and swylċe hit wǣre (“as it were”, literally “as it would be”).