wish

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English

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Etymology

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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”).

Cognate with Scots wis (“to wish”), Saterland Frisian wonskje (“to wish”), West Frisian winskje (“to wish”), Dutch wensen (“to wish”), German wünschen (“to wish”), Danish ønske (“to wish”), Icelandic æskja, óska (“to wish”), Latin Venus, veneror (“venerate, honour, love”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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wish (plural wishes)

  1. A desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.
    have a wish
    make someone's wish come true
    • 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!:
      Send this message to six beings of your acquaintance, and your greatest wish shall come true!
  2. An expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power.
    make a wish
  3. The thing desired or longed for.
    My dearest wish is to see them happily married.
    You have my best wishes.
    • 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw:
      "I suppose all old soldiers are the same," said Mrs White. "The idea of our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?" / "Might drop on his head from the sky," said the frivolous Herbert.
  4. (Sussex) A water meadow.

Derived terms

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Terms derived from the noun "wish"

Translations

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See also

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Verb

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wish (third-person singular simple present wishes, present participle wishing, simple past and past participle wished)

  1. (transitive) To desire; to want.
    I'll come tomorrow, if you wish it.
    • 2018 May 13, Justin King, “How to Fix the Storylines of Film and Television”, in Return of Kings:
      Showing the population what we wish them to be is the best way for them to change.
    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
      I would not wish / Any companion in the world but you.
    • 1716, Jonathan Swift, Phyllis, or the Progress of Love:
      Now John the butler must be sent
      To learn the road that Phyllis went:
      The groom was wished to saddle Crop;
      For John must neither light nor stop,
      But find her, wheresoe'er she fled,
      And bring her back alive or dead.
    • 1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish:
      Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …
  2. (transitive, now rare) To hope (+ object clause with may or in present subjunctive).
  3. (intransitive, followed by for) To hope (for a particular outcome), even if that outcome is unlikely to occur or cannot occur.
    • 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures:
      This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for.
    • 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw:
      Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact," he said slowly. "It seems to me I've got all I want."
    I wish I could go back in time and teach myself what I know now.
  4. (ditransitive) To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).
    We wish you a Merry Christmas.
  5. (intransitive, followed by to and an infinitive) To request or desire to do an activity.
    • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
      Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
  6. (transitive) To recommend; to seek confidence or favour on behalf of.

Usage notes

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Derived terms

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Terms derived from the verb "wish"

Translations

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References

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Yola

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Etymology

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From Middle English fisch, from Old English fisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *fisk.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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wish

  1. fish

References

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  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 78
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