want
English
Etymology 1
From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#WANTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#WANT wanten (“to lack, to need”), from Old NorseCategory:English terms derived from Old Norse#WANT vanta (“to lack”), from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *wanatōną (“to be wanting, lack”), from *wanô (“lack, deficiency”), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#WANT *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-.
Category:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#WANTCategory:English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁weh₂-#WANTAlternative forms
Pronunciation
- Homophone: wa'n'tCategory:English terms with homophones#WANT
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: wŏnt, wŭnt, IPA(key): /wɒnt/, /wʌnt/Category:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#WANT
- (General American) enPR: wŏnt, wŭnt, wônt IPA(key): /wɑnt/, /wʌnt/, /wɔnt/Category:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#WANT[1]
- (Canada) IPA(key): [wɔːnt], [wʌnt]Category:English terms with IPA pronunciation#WANT
- (General Australian) enPR: wŏnt, IPA(key): /wɔnt/Category:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#WANT
- (New Zealand) enPR: wŏnt, wŭnt, IPA(key): /wɒnt/, (nonstandard) /wɐnt/Category:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#WANT
- (Indic) IPA(key): /ʋɔɳʈ/, (father-bother merger) /ʋɑɳʈ/Category:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English 1-syllable words#WANTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#WANT
- Rhymes: -ɒnt, -ʌntCategory:Rhymes:English/ɒnt#WANTCategory:Rhymes:English/ɒnt/1 syllable#WANTCategory:Rhymes:English/ʌnt#WANTCategory:Rhymes:English/ʌnt/1 syllable#WANT
Verb
want (third-person singular simple present wants, present participle wanting, simple past and past participle wanted)Category:English lemmas#WANTCategory:English verbs#WANTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WANT) To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave, hanker, or demand. [from 18th c.]
- I want you as a friend, not a foe.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- What do you want to eat? I want you to leave. I never wanted to go back to live with my mother.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
- Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- I want to find a supermarket. — Oh, okay. The supermarket is at 1500 Irving Street. It is near the apartment. — Great!
- (by extension) To make it easy or tempting to do something undesirable, or to make it hard or challenging to refrain from doing it.
- The game developers of Candy Crush want you to waste large, copious amounts of your money on in-game purchases to buy boosters and lives.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- Depression wants you to feel like the world is dark and that you are not worthy of happiness. The first step to making your life better from this day forward is to stop believing these lies.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WANT, in particular) To wish, desire, or demand to see, have the presence of or do business with.
- Ma’am, you are exactly the professional we want for this job.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- Danish police want him for embezzlement.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- 2010, Fred Vargas, The Chalk Circle Man, Vintage Canada, →ISBN, page 75:
- But now it's different, if the police want him for murder.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#WANT) To desire (to experience desire); to wish.
- You can leave if you want.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- 2019 May 5, "The Last of the Starks", Game of Thrones season 8 episode 4 (written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss):
- TYRION: You don't want it?
- BRAN: I don't really want anymore.
- (colloquialCategory:English colloquialisms#WANT, usually second person, often future tense) To be advised to do something (compare should, ought).
- You’ll want to repeat this three or four times to get the best result.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WANT, now colloquialCategory:English colloquialisms#WANT) To lack and be in need of or require (something, such as a noun or verbal noun). [from 15th c.]
- 1741, The Gentleman's and London Magazine: Or Monthly Chronologer, 1741-1794, page 559:
- The lady, it is said, will inherit a fortune of three hundred pounds a year, with two cool thousands left by an uncle, on her arriving at the age of twenty-one, of which she wants but a few months.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1839, Chambers's Journal, page 123:
- Oh Jeanie, it will be hard, after every thing is ready for our happiness, if we should be sundered. It wants but a few days o' Martinmas, and then I maun enter on my new service on Loch Rannoch, where a bonny shieling is ready ...Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1847, The American Protestant, page 27:
- In this we have just read an address to children in England, Ireland, and Scotland, in behalf of children who want food to keep them from starvation.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “A Mad Tea-Party”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 96:
- “Your hair wants cutting,” said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter II, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC, page 22:
- The mowing-machine always wanted oiling. Barnet turned it under Jacob's window, and it creaked—creaked, and rattled across the lawn and creaked again.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- That chair wants fixing and a clean.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- What you really want is a good smack!Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WANT, now rareCategory:English terms with rare senses#WANT) To have occasion for (something requisite or useful); to require or need.
- 1742–1745, [Edward Young], The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: […] [Samuel Richardson] for A[ndrew] Millar […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1750, →OCLC:
- Man wants but little, nor that little long.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC:
- Man wants but little here below, nor wants that little long.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
- [F]or my greatest skill has been to want but little.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#WANT, datedCategory:English dated terms#WANT) To be lacking or deficient or absent. [from 13th c.]
- There was something wanting in the play.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- 1625, [Samuel] Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], (please specify |part=1 to 5), London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, page 404:
- They of the Citie fought valiantly with Engines, Darts, Arrows: and when Stones wanted, they threw Silver, especially molten silver.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “Preface”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC:
- The disposition, the manners, and the thoughts are all before it; where any of those are wanting or imperfect, so much wants or is imperfect in the imitation of human life.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC:
- For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find / What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#WANT, datedCategory:English dated terms#WANT) To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
- 1605 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, Ben: Ionson His Volpone or The Foxe, [London]: […] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorppe, published 1607, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet Archive page):
- You have a gift, sir (thank your education), / Will never let you want.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- The paupers desperately want.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WANT, archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#WANT) To lack and be without, to not have (something). [from 13th c.]
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 3, member 7:
- he that hath skill to be a pilot wants a ship; and he that could govern a commonwealth […] wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1711 July 15 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 108; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
- I observed […] that your whip wanted a lash to it.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to IV), page 141:
- The least miserable among them appear to be those who turn to Dotage, and entirely lose their Memories; these meet with more Pity and Assistance, because they want many bad Qualities which abound in others.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1765, James Merrick, Psalams:
- Not what we wish, but what we want, / Oh, let thy grace supply!Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1981, A. D. Hope, “His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell”, in A Book of Answers:
- Pray Mr Marvell, can it be / You think to have persuaded me? / Then let me say: you want the art / To woo, much less to win my heart.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- She wanted anything she needed.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#WANT, obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#WANT, by extension) To lack and perhaps be able or willing to do without.
- 1625, [Samuel] Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], (please specify |part=1 to 5), London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, page 50:
- […] which the Kings of Assyria had left for the maintenance of this Temple sacrifices, after the ouerthrow thereof, was shared among the Chaldzans; which they by this attempt were like to lose, and therefore were willing to want his presence.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1789 Robert Burns: Epigram On Francis Grose The Antiquary
- The Devil got notice that Grose was a-dying
So whip! at the summons, old Satan came flying;
But when he approached where poor Francis lay moaning,
And saw each bed-post with its burthen a-groaning,
Astonish'd, confounded, cries Satan-"By God,
I'll want him, ere I take such a damnable load!"
- The Devil got notice that Grose was a-dying
- 1797, The European Magazine, and London Review, page 226:
- For Law, Physick and Divinitie, need so the help of tongs and sciences, as thei can not want them, and yet thei require so a hole mans studie, as thei may parte with no tyme to other lerning, ...Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1880 Robert Louis Stevenson. Kidnapped
- "Are ye sharp-set?" he asked, glancing at about the level of my knee. "Ye can eat that drop parritch."
I said I feared it was his own supper.
"Oh," said he, "I can do fine wanting it, I'll take the ale, though, for it slockens my cough." He drank the cup about half out, still keeping an eye upon me as he drank...
- "Are ye sharp-set?" he asked, glancing at about the level of my knee. "Ye can eat that drop parritch."
- To desire a romantic or (especially) sexual relationship with someone; to lust for.
- Dang, girl! Your brother is gorgeous! I want him so bad!Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- 1981 November 27, Jo Callis, Philip Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright, “Don't You Want Me”, in Dare, performed by The Human League:
- Don't, don't you want me? / You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me / Don't, don't you want me? / You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need meCategory:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 2023 September 15, Tate McRae, Amy Allen, Jasper Harris, Ryan Tedder, “Greedy”, in Think Later, performed by Tate McRae:
- Yeah, you're loo- (loo-loo-) lookin' at me like I'm some sweet escape / Obvious that you want me, but I said...Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Conjugation
| infinitive | (to) want | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| present tense | past tense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st-person singular | want | wanted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd-person singular | want, wantest† | wanted, wantedst† | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd-person singular | wants, wanteth† | wanted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| plural | want | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| subjunctive | want | wanted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| imperative | want | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| participles | wanting | wanted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms
- (desire): set one's heart on, wish for, would like
- (not to have): lack, be without
- (require): need, be in need of
Derived terms
- all one wants
- do not want
- do want
- I don't want it
- I don't want to buy anything
- I don't want to talk about it
- I want doesn't get
- I want my money back
- I want to go to the toilet
- I want to know
- I want to speak to the manager haircut
- not want to do that
- pay what you want
- Polly want a cracker
- unwanted
- wanna
- want-away
- wanted
- wanter
- want for
- want for nothing
- want in
- wanting
- want list
- want no part of
- want one's bumps feeling
- want one's bumps felt
- want out
- want someone's nachos
- want-to
- want to
- want-to-be
- want to bet
- want to know
- waste not, want not
- what do you want
- who wants to know?
- you don't want to know
- you want a cookie
- you want a piece of me
Descendants
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
want (countable and uncountable, plural wants)Category:English lemmas#WANTCategory:English nouns#WANTCategory:English uncountable nouns#WANTCategory:English countable nouns#WANTCategory:English countable nouns#WANTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- (countableCategory:English countable nouns#WANT) A desire, wish, longing.
- 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 249:
- After a search which produced most of the things on our wants list, we went down to picnic on the shore in the sunshine-with a good stretch of shingle behind us over which no triffid could approach unheard.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- (countableCategory:English countable nouns#WANT) Lack, absence, deficiency. [(often) with of]
- She showed a want of caution in renting her house to complete strangers.Category:English terms with usage examples#WANT
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene viii]:
- [H]eavens and honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 24:8:
- They are wet with the showres of the mountaines, and imbrace the rocke for want of a shelter.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#WANT) Poverty.
- 1713, Jonathan Swift, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction:Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
- Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt.
- 1785, William Paley, Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy:
- Habitual superfluities become actual wants.Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
- (UKCategory:British English#WANT, miningCategory:en:Mining#WANT) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#WANTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#WANT wont (“mole”),[2] from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#WANTCategory:English terms derived from Old English#WANT wand, wond, from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *wanduz.
Pronunciation
Noun
want (plural wants)Category:English lemmas#WANTCategory:English nouns#WANTCategory:English countable nouns#WANTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- (dialectalCategory:English dialectal terms#WANT) A mole (Talpa europeaCategory:Entries using missing taxonomic name (species)#Talpa%20europea).
- 1592, John Lyly, Midas; republished in Charles Wentworth Dilke, editor, Old English Plays: Being a Selection from the Early Dramatic Writers, volume 1, London: Whittingham and Rowland, 1814:
- Lic. She hath the ears of a want. / Pec. Doth she want ears?Category:English terms with quotations#WANT
References
- “want”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “want”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
- ↑ Dictionary.com
- ↑ “wont(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Anagrams
Category:English control verbs#WANTCategory:English terms with unexpected final devoicing#WANT Category:en:Emotions#WANTCategory:en:Soricomorphs#WANTAfrikaans
Etymology
From DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Dutch#WANTCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Dutch#WANT want, from Middle DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Middle Dutch#WANTCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Middle Dutch#WANT want, from Old DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Old Dutch#WANTCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Old Dutch#WANT wanda, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *hwandê.
Pronunciation
Conjunction
wantCategory:Afrikaans lemmas#WANTCategory:Afrikaans conjunctions#WANTCategory:Afrikaans entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
Dutch
Pronunciation
Category:Dutch terms with audio pronunciation#WANTAudio: (file) - IPA(key): /ʋɑnt/Category:Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation#WANT
- Hyphenation: want
- Rhymes: -ɑntCategory:Rhymes:Dutch/ɑnt#WANT
- Homophone: wandCategory:Dutch terms with homophones#WANT
Etymology 1
From Middle DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch#WANT want, from Old DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch#WANT wanda, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *hwandê. Cognate with Old High German wanta, Middle High German wante.
Conjunction
wantCategory:Dutch lemmas#WANTCategory:Dutch conjunctions#WANTCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- for, because, as
- Hij had haast, want hij dreigde de trein te missen.
- He was in a hurry, for he was about to miss the train.
- Ze ging vroeg naar bed, want ze was erg moe.
- She went to bed early, because she was very tired.
- Hij gaf haar bloemen, want hij wilde haar laten glimlachen.
- He gave her flowers, as he wanted to make her smile.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Descendants
See also
Etymology 2
Category:Dutch terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#WANTCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#WANTFrom Middle DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch#WANT want, from Old DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch#WANT *want, from FrankishCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Frankish#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Frankish#WANT *wantu, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *wantuz.
Noun
want f (plural wanten, diminutive wantje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#WANTCategory:Dutch nouns#WANTCategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -en#WANTCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Dutch feminine nouns#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- a mitten, type of glove in which four fingers get only one section, besides the thumb
- Hypernym: handschoen
- Tijdens de winter droeg ze een paar wanten om haar handen warm te houden.
- During the winter, she wore a pair of mittens to keep her hands warm.
- De kinderen verloren hun wanten in de sneeuw tijdens het spelen.
- The children lost their mittens in the snow while playing.
- Hij breide een schattig wantje voor zijn pasgeboren nichtje.
- He knitted an adorable mitten for his newborn niece.
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 3
From Middle DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch#WANT want, gewant, from Old DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch#WANT *giwant, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *gawandą, from the root of winden.
Noun
want n (plural wanten, diminutive wantje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#WANTCategory:Dutch nouns#WANTCategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -en#WANTCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Dutch neuter nouns#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- a coarse type of woolen fabric; anything made from it
- the rigging, ropes supporting masts and sails aboard a ship. shroud, sideways support for a mast
- various types of nets and snares for fishing, hunting or farming
- horse tackle
Derived terms
- concerning rigging
Etymology 4
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
wantCategory:Dutch non-lemma forms#WANTCategory:Dutch verb forms#WANTCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- inflection of wannen:
Middle Dutch
Etymology 1
from Old DutchCategory:Middle Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch#WANT wanda, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Middle Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *hwandē.
Conjunction
wantCategory:Middle Dutch non-lemma forms#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch contractions#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
Descendants
- Dutch: want
Etymology 2
Category:Middle Dutch terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTFrom Old DutchCategory:Middle Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch#WANT *want, from FrankishCategory:Middle Dutch terms inherited from Frankish#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch terms derived from Frankish#WANT *wantu.
Noun
want mCategory:Middle Dutch lemmas#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch nouns#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Middle Dutch masculine nouns#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
Inflection
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | want | wante |
| accusative | want | wante |
| genitive | wants | wante |
| dative | wante | wanten |
Descendants
- Dutch: want
Further reading
- “want (III)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “want (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “want (V)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page V
Middle English
Verb
wantCategory:Middle English lemmas#WANTCategory:Middle English verbs#WANTCategory:Middle English entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- (Late Middle EnglishCategory:Late Middle English#WANT) alternative form of wanten
Old Dutch
Etymology
From Proto-West GermanicCategory:Old Dutch terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#WANTCategory:Old Dutch terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#WANT *wandu, Proto-GermanicCategory:Old Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Old Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *wanduz.
Noun
want fCategory:Old Dutch lemmas#WANTCategory:Old Dutch nouns#WANTCategory:Old Dutch entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Old Dutch feminine nouns#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
Inflection
Descendants
References
- “want (II)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
Old High German
Etymology 1
From Proto-GermanicCategory:Old High German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:Old High German terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *wanduz (“stick, rod; barrier made of sticks, fence”), whence also Old Norse vǫndr, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (wandus).
Noun
want fCategory:Old High German lemmas#WANTCategory:Old High German nouns#WANTCategory:Old High German entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Old High German feminine nouns#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- a wall
Descendants
Etymology 2
Verb
wantCategory:Old High German non-lemma forms#WANTCategory:Old High German verb forms#WANTCategory:Old High German entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
Tocharian A
Etymology
From Proto-TocharianCategory:Tocharian A terms inherited from Proto-Tocharian#WANTCategory:Tocharian A terms derived from Proto-Tocharian#WANT *wyente, from Post-PIE *h₂weh₁ntos, from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:Tocharian A terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European#WANTCategory:Tocharian A terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#WANT *h₂wéh₁n̥ts, from *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”) (compare English wind, Latin ventus). Compare Tocharian B yente.
Noun
wantCategory:Tocharian A lemmas#WANTCategory:Tocharian A nouns#WANTCategory:Tocharian A entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
West Frisian
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old FrisianCategory:West Frisian terms inherited from Old Frisian#WANTCategory:West Frisian terms derived from Old Frisian#WANT hwant, hwante, hwande, hwanda, from Proto-GermanicCategory:West Frisian terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#WANTCategory:West Frisian terms derived from Proto-Germanic#WANT *hwandê.
Conjunction
wantCategory:West Frisian lemmas#WANTCategory:West Frisian conjunctions#WANTCategory:West Frisian entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
Synonyms
Yola
Verb
wantCategory:Yola non-lemma forms#WANTCategory:Yola verb forms#WANTCategory:Yola entries with incorrect language header#WANTCategory:Pages with entries#WANTCategory:Pages with 10 entries#WANT
- alternative form of waunt
- 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 12, page 88:
- Th' ball want a cowlee, the gazb maate all rize;Category:Yola terms with quotations#WANT
- The ball o'er shot the goal, the dust rose all about;
- 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 102:
- Dhicka die fan ich want to a mile.Category:Yola terms with quotations#WANT
- That day when I went to the mill.
References
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 102