want

want · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic*wanatōną
2. Old Norsevanta
3. Middle Englishwanten
4. English todaywant

From Middle English wanten (“to lack, to need”), from Old Norse vanta (“to lack”), from Proto-Germanic *wanatōną (“to be wanting, lack”), from *wanô (“lack, deficiency”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“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, wan-.

want · noun²

1. Old Englishwand
2. Middle Englishwont
3. English todaywant

From Middle English wont (“mole”), from Old English wand, wond, from Proto-Germanic *wanduz.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 18th c. To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave, hanker, or demand.
• from 18th c. To make it easy or tempting to do something undesirable, or to make it hard or challenging to refrain from doing it.
• from 15th c. To lack and be in need of or require (something, such as a noun or verbal noun).
• from 13th c. To be lacking or deficient or absent.
• from 13th c. To lack and be without, to not have (something).