English Explanatory Dictionary

wish

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.
  2. An expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power.
  3. The thing desired or longed for.
  4. A water meadow.
verb
  1. To desire; to want.
  2. To hope (+ object clause with may or in present subjunctive).
  3. To hope (for a particular outcome), even if that outcome is unlikely to occur or cannot occur.
  4. To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).
  5. To request or desire to do an activity.
  6. To recommend; to seek confidence or favour on behalf of.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

wĭsh /wɪʃ/ en-us-wish.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wish.wav

Word forms

wish wishes wishing wished no-table-tags glossary wishest wishedst wisheth

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, 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.

Related words

precatory velleity

Derived words

best wishes death wish fish one's wish good wishes if wishes were horses, beggars would ride make a wish wish away wishbone wish-cycling wishful wish list wishlist wish-list your wish is my command as you wish be careful what you wish for half wish ill-wish I wish I wish I may be shot unwish well-wish well-wisher wisher wish-fulfilling wish fulfilment wish one joy of it wish someone ill wish someone well wish upon a star wish-wash wish well wish you well you wish

Translations

Albanian: urim Arabic: أُمْنِيَّة Arabic: رَغْبَة Arabic: مُنْيَة Arabic: امنية Armenian: ցանկություն Armenian: իղձ Assamese: হেঁপাহ Assamese: ইচ্ছা Assamese: বাঞ্ছা Azerbaijani: dilək Azerbaijani: istək Azerbaijani: arzu Baluchi: واہگ Baluchi: ارمان Belarusian: жада́нне Bengali: আরজু Bengali: আরমান Bengali: তামান্না Bengali: ইচ্ছা Bengali: খায়েশ Bhojpuri: चाह Bulgarian: жела́ние Catalan: desig Chinese Mandarin: 願望 /愿望 Czech: přání Danish: ønske Dutch: wens Esperanto: deziro Esperanto: volo Estonian: soov Faroese: ynski Finnish: toive French: souhait Old French: vuel West-Frisian: winsk Galician: desexo Georgian: სურვილი German: Wunsch Greek: ευχή Greek: επιθυμία Ancient Greek: εὐχή Ancient Greek: ἐπιθυμία Hebrew: משאלה Hindi: आशा Hindi: इच्छा Hindi: अभिलाषा Hindi: कामना Hindi: आकांक्षा Hindi: चाह Hindi: आरज़ू Hindi: आरजू Hindi: तमन्ना Hindi: चाहत Hindi: ख़्वाहिश Hindi: ख्वाहिश Hungarian: kívánság Icelandic: ósk Ingrian: iso Ingrian: halu Ingrian: himo Ingrian: ohvotta Old Irish: do·futhracair Italian: desiderio Italian: voglia Japanese: 願い Japanese: 願望 Japanese: 希望 Javanese: karep Old Javanese: harĕp Kazakh: тілек Khmer: ចំណង Khmer: បំណង Korean: 소원 Korean: 희망
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