Wiktionary

wish

See also: Wish

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

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”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

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.
    • 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 termsEdit

Terms derived from the noun "wish"

TranslationsEdit

See alsoEdit

VerbEdit

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.
    • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      I was wished to your worship by a gentleman.
    Template:RQ:Shakespeare Taming

Usage notesEdit

Derived termsEdit

Terms derived from the verb "wish"

TranslationsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • wish at OneLook Dictionary Search
  • wish in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

YolaEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

NounEdit

wish

  1. fish

ReferencesEdit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), 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, page 78
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