wound

English has two words spelled wound: the injury, pronounced /wuːnd/, and the past tense of wind, to turn or coil, pronounced /waʊnd/.^[1][2]

wound¹ injury

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wuːnd/^[1]

Etymology

The injury is Middle English wounde, inherited from Old English wund (“hurt, injury”),^[3][2][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *wundō,^[2] cognate with Old Saxon wunda, Dutch wond, German Wunde and Old Norse und;^[3][4] its relations beyond Germanic are uncertain,^[3][4][6] though Watkins suggests PIE Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to beat, wound”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An injury: about 725, in Beowulf, in Barnhart;^[3] the OED has about 900.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to inflict a wound, is from Old English wundian, about 760 in Barnhart.^[3][2] Figurative use, of hurt feelings or pride, is from before 900 for the noun,^[7] and for the verb since the late 14th century.^[2] The (Five) Wounds of Christ are from about 1175,^[7] and wounds! (God's wounds) was an oath from about 1350.^[7] A surgical incision is from 1668.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 725 – an injury.^[3]
• c. 760 – the verb.^[3]
• c. 1175 – the Wounds of Christ.^[7]
• late 14th century – to hurt the feelings.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An injury to living tissue, especially one in which the skin is cut or broken.
2. An injury to a person's feelings or reputation.

Verb

1. To inflict a wound on; to injure.
2. To hurt someone's feelings.

Word family

• wounded
• woundwort

wound² past tense of wind

Pronunciation

• IPA: /waʊnd/^[1]

Etymology

The past tense and past participle of wind, to turn or coil, inherited from Old English wunden, the past participle of windan (“to wind”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, having been wound: the late 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Wound up, fully wound, is by 1788, and figuratively tense or excited later.^[2][8]

Timeline

• late 14th century – wound, as an adjective.^[2]
• 1788 – wound-up.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. Past tense and past participle of wind, to turn or coil.

Word family

• wound-up

Related words

• wind
• wen

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin