Etymology
1. O.E.
wyscan "to wish," from P.Gmc.
*wunskijanan (cf. O.N.
æskja, Dan.
ønske, Swed.
önska, M.Du.
wonscen, Du.
wensen, O.H.G.
wunsken, Ger.
wunschen "to wish"), from PIE
*wun-/*wen-/*won- "to strive after, wish, desire, be satisfied" (cf. Skt.
vanati "he desires, loves, wins," L.
venus "love, sexual desire, loveliness,"
venerari "to worship;" see Venus). The noun is attested from c.1300.
Wishful first recorded 1523.
Wishful thinking is recorded from 1932;
wish fulfillment (1901) translates Ger.
wunscherfüllung (Freud,
"Die Traumdeutung," 1900).
2. From Middle English wisshen, wischen, wüschen, from Old English wȳsċan (“to wish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunskijan, from Proto-Germanic *wunskijaną (“to wish”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to wish, love”).
3. Cognate with Scots wis (“to wish”), Saterland Frisian wonskje (“to wish”), West Frisian winskje (“to wish”), Dutch wensen (“to wish”), German wünschen (“to wish”), Luxembourgish wënschen (“to wish”), Yiddish ווינטשן (vintshn, “to wish”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ønske (“to wish”), Faroese ynskja (“to wish, to desire”), Icelandic æskja, óska (“to wish”), Norwegian Nynorsk ønskja, ønskje, ønska, ønske, ynskja, ynskje (“to wish, to desire”), Swedish önska (“to wish”). Via PIE cognate with Latin Venus, veneror (“venerate, honour, love”), English wonder. See: Middle English '
wisshen', Proto-Germanic '
*wunskijaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'wonskje', Dutch '
wensen', German, old spelling '
wünschen', Luxembourgish '
wënschen', Faroese '
ynskja', Icelandic '
æskja', Norwegian, nynorsk '
ønskja', Swedish '
önska', English '
wonder'.
Verbs referencing "wish"
English
wonder, German, old spelling
wünschen, Latin
veneror, Luxembourgish
wënschen, Polish
winszować, German, Pennsylvania
winsche, Sanskrit
वन्.