want

      English

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      Alternative forms

      • waunt (obsolete)

      Pronunciation

      Etymology

      From Middle English wanten (“to lack”), from Old Norse vanta (“to lack”), from Proto-Germanic *wanatōną (“to be wanting, lack”), from *wanô (“lack, deficiency”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)wAn-, *wān- (“empty”). Cognate with Middle High German wan (“not full, empty”), Middle Dutch wan (“empty, poor”), Old English wana (“want, lack, absence, deficiency”), Latin vanus (“empty”). See wan.

      Verb

      want (third-person singular simple present wants, present participle wanting, simple past and past participle wanted)

      1. (transitive) To wish for or to desire (something). [from 18th c.]
        What do you want to eat?
        I want you to leave.
        I never wanted to go back to live with my mother.
        I want to be an astronaut when I'm older
        I don't want him to marry Gloria, I want him to marry me!
        What do you want from me?
        Do you want anything from the shops?
      2. (intransitive, now dated) To be lacking, not to exist. [from 13th c.]
        There was something wanting in the play.
      3. (transitive) To lack, not to have (something). [from 13th c.]
        • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.7:
          he that hath skill to be a pilot wants a ship; and he that could govern a commonwealth [...] wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage.
        • James Merrick
          Not what we wish, but what we want, / Oh, let thy grace supply!
      4. (transitive, colloquially with verbal noun as object) To be in need of; to require (something). [from 15th c.]
        That chair wants fixing.
        • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 2
          The mowing-machine always wanted oiling. Barnet turned it under Jacob's window, and it creaked—creaked, and rattled across the lawn and creaked again.

      Usage notes

      Synonyms

      Derived terms

      Terms derived from want (verb)

      Translations

      desire
      lack — see lack

      Noun

      Wikipedia has an article on:

      Wikipedia want (countable and uncountable; plural wants)

      1. (countable) A desire, wish, longing.
      2. (countable, often followed by of) Lack, absence.
        • circa 1591, William Shakespeare, King Henry VI Part 2, act 4, sc. 8:
          [H]eavens and honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.
        • For Want of a Nail:
          For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
          For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
          For want of a horse the rider was lost.
          For want of a rider the battle was lost.
          For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
          And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
      3. (uncountable) Poverty.

      Derived terms

      Translations

      desire, wish, longing
      lack (of)
      poverty

      References

      1. ^ Dictionary.com

      Statistics

      Anagrams

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      Dutch

      Pronunciation

      Etymology 1

      From Middle Dutch want, from Old Dutch wanda, from Proto-Germanic *hwandē.

      Conjunction

      want

      1. for, because
        Hij komt niet, want hij is ziek. — He is not coming, because he is sick. (Note: The order is SVO after want.)
      Synonyms
      See also

      Etymology 2

      From Middle Dutch want, from Old Dutch *want, from Proto-Germanic *wantuz.

      Noun

      want f (plural wanten, diminutive wantje)

      1. mitten

      Etymology 3

      From Middle Dutch want, gewant, from Old Dutch *giwant, from Proto-Germanic *gawandą, from the root of winden.

      Noun

      want n (plural wanten, diminutive wantje)

      1. shroud, sideways support for a mast.

      Etymology 4

      Verb

      want

      1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of wannen
      2. plural imperative of wannen
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      Old High German

      Noun

      want f

      1. wall
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      Tocharian A

      Etymology

      From Proto-Tocharian *w'entë, from Post-PIE *h₂weh₁ntos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁nts, from *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”) (cf. English wind, Latin ventus). Compare Tocharian B yente.

      Noun

      want

      1. wind
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      Last modified on 16 June 2013, at 20:49