wish
/ˈwɪʃ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms wishes wishing wished wishest wishedst wisheth
- noun A desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen. “It is my wish that the bequest (should) be given to an almshouse.”
- noun An expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power. “make a wish”
- noun The thing desired or longed for. “My dearest wish is to see them happily married.”
- noun (Sussex) A water meadow.
- verb (transitive) To desire; to want. “I'll come tomorrow, if you wish (it).”
- verb (transitive, now rare) To hope (+ object clause with may or in present subjunctive).
- verb (intransitive, followed by for) To hope (for a particular outcome), even if that outcome is unlikely to occur or cannot occur. “I wish I could go back in time and teach myself what I know now.”
- verb (ditransitive) To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something). “We wish you a merry Christmas.”
- verb (intransitive, followed by to and an infinitive) To request or desire to do an activity. “Anyone who wishes to may leave now.”
- verb (transitive) To recommend; to seek confidence or favour on behalf of.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
wishing want indirect request regard compliments care like wish well bid
Antonyms
Etymology
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”), 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.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To have a desire or yearning; to long; to hanker.
- verb To desire; to long for; to hanker after; to have a mind or disposition toward.
- verb To frame or express desires concerning; to invoke in favor of, or against, any one; to attribute, or cal down, in desire; to invoke; to imprecate.
- noun Desire; eager desire; longing.
Etymology [OE. wischen, weschen, wuschen, AS. w; akin to D. wenschen, G. wünschen, Icel. æeskja, Dan. önske, Sw. önska; from AS. w a wish; akin to OD. & G. wunsch, OHG. wunsc, Icel. , Skr. va a wish, va to wish; also to Skr. van to like, to wish. Winsome, Win, v. t., and cf. Wistful.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wish”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details