win

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English winnen, inherited from Old English winnan (“to labour, struggle, fight”), merged with gewinnan (“to gain by struggle, conquer”),^[2][3] both from Proto-Germanic *wennanan (“to seek to gain”).^[2] Etymonline, Barnhart and Klein trace it to Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to desire, strive for”),^[2][3][4] the root of Latin venus (“love, desire”) and wish,^[4][5][3] while Hoad and the Shorter Oxford call its further relations uncertain.^[6][7] Its relatives include Dutch winnen, German gewinnen and Old Norse vinna (“to work, gain”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To labour, struggle for, fight: Old English winnan, about 725, in Beowulf.^[3][2] Gewinnan “to win” is recorded in 971.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In early Middle English winnen meant “to strive, contend” (about 1200),^[3] and about 1300 also “to be victorious”.^[3][2] The sense of effort faded into “to earn something through effort” (about 1300), which lingers in breadwinner.^[2] Win someone's affection is late 14th century, and in Middle English one could also win enemies.^[2] The Old English noun winn meant “toil, strife, gain”; all these senses are obsolete, and win “a victory” is a new formation from the verb, recorded from 1862.^[2][3][8] Winner is first found about 1353, in Winner and Waster,^[3] and you can't win them all in sports writing of 1886.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English winnan, to struggle (Beowulf).^[3]
• 971 – gewinnan, to gain.^[3]
• c. 1300 – to be victorious; to earn.^[2][3]
• c. 1353 – winner.^[3]
• late 14th century – to win affection.^[2]
• 1862 – noun, a victory.^[2][8]
• 1886 – you can't win them all.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To achieve victory or finish first in a contest.
2. To receive as a prize or reward.
3. To gain by effort: win a living.
4. To gain the favour, support or love of someone.
5. To reach with difficulty.
6. To capture in battle.

Noun

1. A victory, especially in a contest.
2. An amount won.

Word family

• winless
• winnable
• winning
• winner
• hard-won
• rewin
• win-win
• no-win

Related words

• wish
• venerate
• venereal
• winsome
• breadwinner

Usage notes

Scots and northern English dialects have separate verbs win “to dwell”, a variant of won, and win “to dry hay or peat in the air”, perhaps from win “to gain” but associated with wind.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press