Etymology

wishbone

wish·bone
W4I1S1H4B3O1N1E1

Today it means: A forked bone between the neck and breast of a bird consisting chiefly of the two clavicles fused at their median or lower end, regarded as a lucky charm in some countries. Full definition →

English bone ← Middle English bon ← Old English bān
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wenh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wnh₁sḱéti
  3. Proto-Indo-European*(ó)-os
  4. Proto-Germanic*wunskaz
  5. Proto-Germanic*wunskijaną
  6. Proto-West Germanic*wunskijan
  7. Old Englishwȳsċan
  8. Middle Englishwischen
  9. Englishwish
  10. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyh₂-
  11. Proto-Germanic*bainaz
  12. Proto-Germanic*bainą
  13. Proto-West Germanic*bain
  14. Old Englishbān
  15. Middle Englishbon
  16. Englishbone
  17. English todaywishbone

From wish + bone.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.