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wound

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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

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