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wish

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /wɪʃ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wisshen, inherited from Old English wȳscan (“to feel intense longing, cherish a desire”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *wunsk-,[2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to desire, strive for”).[2][6] Old English lost the n before the spirant s.[3] Its cognates include Middle Dutch wonscen, Dutch wensen, German wünschen and Old Norse œskja,[3][2][4] and Sanskrit vāñchati, “he wishes”.[7][5] It is related to ween, wont and win.[4][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To desire, have a wish for: Old English wȳscan, before 899, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care,[3] or about 897.[10]

Semantic evolution

With a clause expressing an unrealized desire (I wish it were) it is from 971.[10] With an infinitive, as in wish to go, it is from about 1250.[10] The noun, “the act of wishing” and “what one wishes for”, is from the early 14th century[2] or before 1300,[10] and an expression of desire for another's welfare (best wishes) from 1593.[10] Wishing well is attested by 1819.[2] Wish book, a mail-order catalogue, is North American slang by 1927.[2][10]

Timeline

  • before 899 – Old English wȳscan (Alfred).[3]
  • 971 – an unrealized wish.[10]
  • c. 1250 – wish to.[10]
  • early 14th century – noun, a wish.[2]
  • 1593 – a good wish.[10]
  • 1819 – wishing well.[2]
  • 1927 – wish book.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To long for; to want.
  2. To express a hope for someone: wish you luck.
  3. To desire something that is unlikely or impossible: I wish I were taller.
  4. To order or request politely.
  5. (wish on) To impose on someone.

Noun

  1. A desire or longing for something.
  2. An expression of a desire; a request.
  3. Something desired.

Word family

  • wisher
  • wishless
  • wishbone
  • wishful
  • wish-wash
  • outwish
  • unwish
  • well-wisher
  • ween
  • wont
  • win
  • venom
  • Venus

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that wish is widely used as a polite substitute for want with an infinitive, in keeping with the deference of formal style.[11] A separate Old English wish is a piece of marshy meadow, recorded from 898.[10]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin