Etymograph

English

win

Win comes from Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan ‘to labour, toil’, from Proto-Germanic *winnaną ‘to labour, win, gain’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to strive, desire’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-‘to strive, wish, desire, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*winnaną‘to labour, win, gain, fight’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*winnan‘to strive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150winnan‘to labour, toil’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500winnen‘to exert effort’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1485win

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-‘to strive, wish, desire, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*winnaną‘to labour, win, gain, fight’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*winnan‘to strive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150winnan‘to labour, toil’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500winnen‘to exert effort’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1485win

Earliest quotation: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur: “For and we doo bataille we two wyl fyghte…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wen- ‘to win, achieve, overcome’

wound

through Old English winnan ‘to labour, swink, toil,’

won

through Middle English winnen ‘to exert effort, strive for’

winner

Another origin of win

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-‘to strive, desire, wish, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*winną‘labour, struggle, fight’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150winn‘toil, labor, trouble, hardship’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  5. Englishtodaywin

Another origin of win

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-‘to strive, wish, desire, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wunjō‘joy, delight, pleasure, lust’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wunnju‘joy’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wynn‘joy, rapture, pleasure, delight, gladness’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wynne‘happiness, pleasure, delight’
  6. Englishtodaywin

Today it means

verb To conquer, defeat.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- / win

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