Etymology

win

W4I1N1

Today it means: To conquer, defeat. Full definition →

Middle English winnen ← Old English winnan ← Proto-West Germanic *winnan
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

win · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wenh₁-“to strive, wish, desire, love”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*winnaną“to swink, labour, win, gain, fight”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*winnan
  4. Old English · inherited fromwinnan“to labour, swink, toil,”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromwinnen
  6. English todaywin

From Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan (“to labour, swink, toil,”) (compare Old English ġewinnan (“conquer, obtain, gain; endure, bear, suffer; be ill”)), from Proto-West Germanic *winnan, from Proto-Germanic *winnaną (“to swink, labour, win, gain, fight”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive, wish, desire, love”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian wan, wane, wen, wine, wune (“to win”), Saterland Frisian and West Frisian winne (“to win”), Cimbrian gabènnan (“to win”), Dutch and Low German winnen (“to win”), German gewinnen (“to win”), Luxembourgish gewannen (“to win”), Danish vinde (“to win”), Faroese and Icelandic vinna (“to win”), Norwegian Bokmål vinne (“to win”), Norwegian Nynorsk vinna, vinne (“to win”), Swedish vinna (“to win”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (winnan, “to suffer”); also Latin venus (“beauty, charm, elegance, grace; beloved, love”), Albanian vuaj, vuj (“to suffer; to endure”), Sanskrit वनोति (vanoti, “to desire, like, love, wish; to gain, procure; to win; to prepare; to hurt, injure”).

win · noun2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wenh₁-“to strive, desire, wish, love”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*winną“labour, struggle, fight”
  3. Old English · inherited fromwinn“toil, labor, trouble, hardship; profit, gain; conflict, strife, war”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwinn
  5. English todaywin

From Middle English winn, winne, from Old English winn (“toil, labor, trouble, hardship; profit, gain; conflict, strife, war”), from Proto-Germanic *winną (“labour, struggle, fight”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive, desire, wish, love”). Cognate with German Gewinn (“profit, gain”), Dutch gewin (“profit, gain”).

win · noun3

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wenh₁-“to strive, wish, desire, love”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wunjō“joy, delight, pleasure, lust”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wunnju
  4. Old English · inherited fromwynn“joy, rapture, pleasure, delight, gladness”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromwynne
  6. English todaywin

From Middle English wynne, winne, wunne, from Old English wynn (“joy, rapture, pleasure, delight, gladness”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunnju, from Proto-Germanic *wunjō (“joy, delight, pleasure, lust”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive, wish, desire, love”). Cognate with German Wonne (“bliss, joy, delight”), archaic Dutch wonne (“joy”), Danish ynde (“grace”), Icelandic yndi (“delight”).

win · verb4

From wind.

Win · noun5

Clipping of Winchester.

Win · proper noun6

Clipping of Windows.

Win · proper noun7

Clipping of Winifred.

Win · proper noun8

Clipping of Winston.

Win · proper noun9

  1. Burmese · borrowed fromဝင်း
  2. English todayWin

Borrowing from Burmese ဝင်း (wang:)

Words from the same roots

Old Englishwinnan all →

won

Proto-Indo-European*wenh₁- all →

wishwonvenomweenweanvenerealwinnewontedwone

Old Englishwinn all →

whingerWinfordwhinyardWimborne Minster

Middle Englishwynne all →

wynn

Old Englishwynn all →

wenwynnWenhamwinne

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.