Pa. t. and pa. pple. wished. Forms: α. 1 wyscan, wiscan, 3–5 wusshe, 4–5 wysche, (7 Sc.) wische, 4–6 wisshe, 5–6 wys(s)he, (3 wusse, wisse, 4 wussche, whusshe, wiche, wesche, wesse, 5 wusche, wiesshe, wosshe, weesshe, 6 wys(c)h, wishe, whysshe, wyszhe), 6– wish. β. Sc. (and north.) 4–6 wisse, wis, 4–9 wiss, 6 wys(s, whiss, 6–7 viss, 7 wosse, 9 wuss. Pa. t. 1 wyscte, wiscte, 5 wyst, weste, 6 (9) wisht; 3 wissede, etc., 4–6 wisshed, 5–6 Sc. wissit, etc., 6– wished. Pa. pple. 3 iwist, 6 wysht, 6–8 wisht; 4–6 wisshed, etc., 6– wished. [OE. wýscan OHG. wunsken (MHG., G. wünschen), ON. œskja (MSw. yskia, Sw. önska, Da. önske):—OTeut. *wunskjan, f. *wunska-, -skô- (represented by OE. wúsc, OHG. wunsc, MHG., G. wunsch, ON. ósk); cf. Skr. vāñchā:—*wānskā-: f. base wen- to hold dear, love, desire, whence also WINE sb.2, WIN sb.2, WEEN sb. and v., WONE.
Another form of the stem appears in (M)Du. wensch: see WINZE2.]
1. trans. To have or feel a wish for; to desire.
The ordinary word for this; now always less emphatic than the synonyms covet, crave, long (for), yearn (for); in earlier use occas. in the sense of these. Sometimes softened by could or should (would): cf. CAN v.1 7, SHALL v. 19 c, WILL v.1 40 b; or strengthened before a dependent clause (b, c) by such phrases as to God, to goodness, to heaven.
(a) with simple obj. (in OE. usually in the genitive). Now dial.; superseded in standard English by wish for (see 2), or colloq. in certain contexts by want (WANT v. 5).
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., i. 29. Ne cuæð he ðæt forðyðe he æneʓum men ðæs wyscte oððe wilnode.
971. Blickl. Hom., 103. [Hie] his tocymes wyscton.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 594. Ic sceal his rode siʓor swiðor wiscan ðonne ondrædan.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 165. Ðe sune wussheð þe fader deað, ar his dai cume.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 14. Ofte haf I wayted wyschande þat wele.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, IX. 1413. Sum wald haiff had Boyd at the suerdis lenth; Sum wyst [ed. 1570 wissit] Lundy.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxiii. 496. Now have I that I desired and wysshed soo longe.
a. 1510. Douglas, K. Hart, II. 3. [He] wantis nocht in warld, that he wald wis.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 9. Thy nychtbouris wyfe … Thow couet not to the, nor wis His hors, his oxe, [etc.].
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., 116. Causing you thinke the night long and wish the daylight.
1610. Shaks., Temp., III. i. 54. I would not wish Any Companion in the world but you.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxvii. 159. Not as wishing liberty of private revenges.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa, VI. lxxxiii. 305. I charge you,… as you wish my peace, not to say any-thing of a letter you have from me.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, i. ‘Wussing your health, sirs,’ said the shepherd.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, I. ii. 40. You know My zeal for all you wish, sweet Beatrice.
1854. Dickens, Hard T., II. i. Would you wish a little more hot water, ma’am?
1901. W. R. H. Trowbridge, Lett. her Mother to Eliz., xxix. 144. She [the maid] flew into a rage, and wanted to know if I wished a month’s notice.
(b) with obj. clause with may or (formerly) pres. subj., occas. indic.: expressing a desire that the event may happen or that the fact may prove to be so, and often implying some want of confidence or fear of the opposite (now commonly expressed by hope: see HOPE v. 3 b). Also expressing a request (see 5).
a. 1000. Deor, 25. Secg moniʓ … wyscte ʓeneahhe þæt þæs cynerices ofercumen wære.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xvii. 18. Ic wisce þæt Ismahel lybbe ætforan ðe.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. x. (1912), 208. I wish that it may not prove ominous foretoken of misfortune.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., IV. iii. 41. I wish all good befortune you.
1649. in Spalding Club Misc. (1852), V. 381. I heartellie wosse that anie that lowes religione … keepe themselwes free of anie accessione … to swche wnhape men.
1661. P. Henry, Diaries & Lett. (1882), 86. I wish I suffer no prejudice by it.
1691. Shadwell, Scowrers, IV. I wish the house is not robb’d.
1715. Addison, Drummer, II. i. He say’s he’s a Conjurer, but he looks very suspicious; I wish he ben’t a Jesuit.
1756. Monitor, No. 35. I. 325. He is certainly bewitched: I wish the old hag upon the green has done him no mischief.
1808. Jane Austen, Lett. (1884), II. 6. She hears that Miss Bigg is to be married in a fortnight. I wish it may be so.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xxi. I wish we have not got King Stork, instead of King Log.
1860. Emily Eden, Semi-attached Couple, xii. Mrs. Tomkinson wished to goodness there might soon be … ‘a little staying company’ in the house.
1872. Geo. Eliot, in J. W. Cross, Life (1885), III. 157. I wish that you may happen to know her.
(c) with obj. clause with past subj. (or indic., e.g., was for were): expressing an unrealized or unrealizable desire (see also WILL v.1 46), or in mod. use sometimes a mild request (cf. 5).
971. Blickl. Hom., 93. Hie … wyscaþ þæt hie næfre næron acennede from fæder ne from meder.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Deut. xxxii. 29. Ic wisce ðæt hi wiston & underʓeaton … hyra ende [Vulg. utinam saperent].
1340. Ayenb., 56. Hi wesseþ þet hi hedden nykken of crane and wombe of cou.
1363. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 92. Þenne I wussche hit weore myn.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 755, Thisbe. Thys wall they woldyn threte And wysshe to god hyt were doun ybete.
1476. Stonor Papers (Camden), II. 11. Wherfore I wyst fulle hertly dyuerse tymez þat ȝe hadde ben here.
a. 1562. G. Cavendish, Poems (1825), II. 40. Therfor my frayltie I may both curse and ban, Whissyng to God I had never known man.
1579. Lyly, Euphues, 31. I wish my wish were as effectually ended as it is heartely looked for.
1605. Shaks., Macb., I. v. 26. That which rather thou do’st feare to doe, Then wishest should be vndone.
1624. Ussher, Lett. (1686), 315. I could wish that Mr. Lisle would take some pains in translating the Saxon Annals into our English Tongue.
1681. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 133. I haiue gotten a tasch upon me that I wisch from my hart it was well of my handes to your satisfaction.
1711. I could wish [see CAN v.1 7].
1817. Byron, Lett. to Moore, 25 March. Heigh ho! I wish I was drunk—but I have nothing but this damned barley-water before me.
1833. Tennyson, May Queen, New Year’s Eve, iv.
| I wish the snow would melt and the sun come out on high: | |
| I long to see a flower so before the day I die. |
1885. ‘F. Anstey,’ Tinted Venus, ii. 24. ‘I wish to heaven I did,’ cried the manager.
1890. [see GOODNESS 5].
(d) with inf. as obj. (usually, now always, with to).
Occas. with admixture of the idea of intention or request for permission (cf. 5), as ‘I wish to say a few words.’
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1060. He wisten him bergen fro ðe dead.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 149. Sche wissheth forto ben unbore.
c. 1450. Merlin, vii. 113. So that the moste hardy of hem … sholde wiesshe to be at home in his owne contree.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, liii. 33. I wissitt to be The grytast erle, or duik, in France.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, XII. xiv. 17. Wys now to fle vp to the starnis on hycht.
1560. Bible (Geneva), Jonah iv. 8. Ionah fainted, and wished in his heart to dye.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., II. i. 123. I neuer wish’d to see you sorry, now I trust I shall.
1630. Milton, On Shakespear, 16. Kings for such a Tomb would wish to die.
1776. Trial of Nundocomar, 23/2. Any body that wishes to see him may.
1850. Miss Mulock, Olive, xxv. I wish to talk to you.
1876. Mozley, Univ. Serm., xi. 213. If men really wish to be good, they will become good.
1893. Law Times, XCV. 305/2. If she wished to be sure of her income she should of all things avoid dabbling in the shares of new companies.
(e) with acc. and inf., or in pass. with inf. (usually, now always, with to).
Sometimes expressing a request: see 5 b.
1538. Starkey, England, II. i. (1878), 176. Aftur a maner … the wych I wold wysch to be put in vse wyth vs.
c. 1560. A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.), xv. 39. Away I went,… Wissing all luvaris leill to haif sic chance.
1567[?]. [M. Parker], Whole Psalter, CX. vii. Pursued to death, and wysht to sinke.
a. 1586. Sidney, Astr. & Stella, x. I rather wish thee climbe the Muses hill.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., IV. iii. 138. If you can pace your wisdome, In that good path that I would wish it go.
1657. J. Sergeant, Schism Dispach’t, 406. I love the Presbyterians so well as not to wish them renounce their reason.
1753–4. Richardson, Grandison, I. xix. 130. [He said that] every man who saw me must wish me to be his.
1891. Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, xv. Nero … wished Junia Silana and Calvia Crispinilla to be of the party.
(f) with obj. and compl. (sb., adj., pple., advb. phrase): now chiefly in imprecations or the like.
14[?]. How Plowman learned Paternoster, 152, in Hazl., E. P. P., I. 215. He wysshed them at the devyll therfore.
1477. Stonor Papers (Camden), II. 22. I thank you hertely þat hyt plesyd you to wyshe me with you.
c. 1520. Skelton, Magnyf., 2306. I se well there is no better rede, But sygh, and sorowe, and wysshe my selfe dede.
1532. Tindale, Exp. Matt. v–vii, vii. (? 1550), 88 b. Who is so wel beloued … but that ther be ynow … that woulde, for hys good, wishe him to hel?
a. 1533. [see WISK sb.1 2].
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 70. I wyshed my selfe heere.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., I. i. 14. Wish me partaker in thy happinesse, When thou do’st meet good hap. Ibid. (1605), Macb., V. viii. 49. Had I as many Sonnes, as I haue haires, I would not wish them to a fairer death.
1621. [see FURTHER adv. 4 b].
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 27, ¶ 2. We every day wish ourselves disengaged from its allurements.
1724. Ramsay, Vision, ix. Mailpayers wiss it to the devil.
1797. Jane Austen, Sense & Sensib., xxxvii. We all wish her extremely happy.
1819. Crabbe, T. of Hall, XVII. 364. Perch that were wish’d to salmon for her sake.
1823. Lamb, Lett. to Southey, 21 Nov. I wished both magazine and review at the bottom of the sea.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxii. Let us remember James by name, and wish him happy.
1902. ‘Violet Jacob,’ Sheep-Stealers, xi. She could only move uneasily on her seat, and wish him miles away.
(g) after as or than: often ellipt. (so also with rel.) for various constructions, esp. (c), (d), (e).
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. clxiv. 83/1. The aduentures of amours and of war, are more fortunate and maruelous, than any man canne thynke or wysshe.
1530. Palsgr., 783/1. I am as well nowe, I thanke God, as I coulde wysshe.
1560. Bible (Geneva), Ps. lxxiii. 7. They haue more then heart can wish.
1698. Collier, Immor. Stage, 227. He … goes off as like a Town Spark as you would wish.
1750. Gray, Elegy, Ep. 8. He gain’d from Heav’n (’twas all he wish’d) a friend.
1866. Geo. Eliot, Felix Holt, i. Nothing had come just as she had wished.
1868. Louisa M. Alcott, Little Women, xiii. You should do just what your grandfather wishes.
(h) in passive: esp. in predicative phr. to be wished = desirable.
1531. Elyot, Gov., II. ix. It is to be wisshed, that they, whiche … haue any autoritie, maye be like to the lawes, whiche in correctynge be ladde only by equitie.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., Ded. More to be wished and much more durable.
1602. Shaks., Ham., III. i. 64. ’Tis a consummation Deuoutly to be wish’d.
1697. De Foe, Ess. Projects, 232–3. ’Twere to be wish’d our Gentry were so much Lovers of Learning, that Birth might always be join’d with Capacity.
1788. Clara Reeve, Exiles, II. 121. At length the day so long wished and expected came.
1876. Jrnl. Soc. Arts, 2 June, 708/1. The returns from the Cheltenham district were not so complete as might be wished.
1918. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 June, 8/1. The first venture … was not, perhaps, as successful is could have been wished.
† b. fig. of a thing: To ‘require’: = DESIRE v. 3.
1600. Abbot, Jonah, 599. I do not find that expositors speake so fully to the matter of this wind, as me seemeth this text doth wish.
2. intr. To have or feel a wish; in early use often, to long, yearn. a. with after (obs.), for: = 1 (a); also indir. pass. = 1 (h).
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 3. Men … wisten ȝerne after ure lauerd ihesu cristes tocume. Ibid., 135. Þu hauest longe iwist after strene, and god haueð herd þine bede.
13[?]. Cursor M., 23548 (Edinb.). Ilk man sal haf til his, Al þat he wil eftir wis.
1481. Caxton, Myrr., 107. The deth wold they haue and weesshe after it incessantly.
1526. Tindale, Acts xxvii. 29. They cast iiij. ancres out of the sterne: and wysshed for the daye.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 69. By so much the more you are welcome, by how much the more you were wished for.
1740. Richardson, Pamela, II. 163. I can only wish for more worthiness.
1757. Eliz. Griffith, Lett. Henry & Frances (1767), I. 84. I wished for you … in vain all night, the life-long night.
1834. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Boarding-ho., ii. Having nothing to do and nothing to wish for, she naturally imagined she must be very ill.
1867. Spedding, Publ. & Authors, 75. Buy the volumes as they come out, if you wish for them, but beware of subscribing to the set.
b. absol.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 50. Better to haue then wishe.
1570. Satir. Poems Reform., xii. 185. Than war I fane, bot all in vane, To wis and will nocht be.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 228. Quha can wiss aboue thir thrie?
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, I. iii. 218. If your selfe … Did euer, in so true a flame of liking, Wish chastly, and loue dearely.
1850. Miss Mulock, Olive, xxi. It had been one of her childish superstitions always ‘to wish at the new moon.’
1904. W. W. Jacobs, Dialstone Lane, iii. 36. ‘I could see it at any time I wished,’ she said sharply.
‘Well, wish now,’ entreated Mr. Tredgold.
c. trans. with cognate obj.
c. 1400. [see WISH sb.1 3].
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., II. i. 179. Thy own wish wish I thee, in euery place.
1849. Mrs. Gaskell, Lizzie Leigh, etc. (1913), 426. He stood lounging against the door wishing all manner of idle wishes.
1914. ‘Ian Hay,’ Knt. on Wheels, xi. If you wish a wish and then feel in my pocket, old lady, you may find something.
3. trans. To express a wish for; to say that one wishes … (with various const. as in 1); spec. to imprecate, invoke (an evil or curse).
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 308. Alexander ða wiscte: ‘Eala ȝif ou wære hund!’
1476. Paston Lett., Suppl. (1901), 149. I wysshed to hym that he and I hadde been at Norwyche.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 7. Than he cryeth out and wyssheth that he neuer had had eyes to se.
1560. Bible (Geneva), Job xxxi. 30. Nether haue I suffred my mouth to sinne, by wishing a cursse vnto his soule.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. iii. 218. If Heauen haue any grieuous plague in store, Exceeding those that I can wish vpon thee.
1673. Cave, Prim. Chr., III. i. 221. He was consumed by such a disease as he had wished upon himself.
1715. Atterbury, Serm., Matt. xxvii. 25 (1734), I. 134. The profane Folly … of wishing that Damnation to ourselves, which we otherways but too well deserve.
1724. Ramsay, Vision, xxvii. He … wischt I happyness micht bruke.
1781. in Jrnl. Friends Hist. Soc. (1918), 72. She was senceable to the last … often wished she might be like her namesake, her D[ea]r Grandmother.
4. spec. (with to or simple object) To desire (something, usually good) for or on behalf of a person, etc.: esp. in formulæ of greeting or expressions of goodwill; hence as in 3, to express such a wish for, esp. as a formal greeting:
e.g., to wish (one) good morning, good-bye (= BID v.1 9), a merry Christmas, a handy New Year, many happy returns of the day (see RETURN sb. 2 b), etc.; also intr. in to wish (one) well (see WELL adv. 2 d), and intr. or trans. (usually with neg.) in to wish (one) ill (where ill may be taken as adv. or sb.). To wish (one) joy of: see JOY sb. 9 d.
c. 900. Laws Alfred, Introd. xlix. § 3. Ða apostolas & þa eldran broðor hælo eow wyscað.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, II. 406. I bidde wisshe yow no more sorwe.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XX. 328. Þer ne is syk ne sory … Þat he ne may … boþe wusshen and wylnen Alle manere of men mercy and for-ȝeuenesse.
1516. State Papers Hen. VIII., VI. 50. Not to thintent he schulde have hys parte off thys intolerable troble…, for I wolde not wysche itt to a dogge.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. cxxix. 8. We wish you good lucke in the name of the Lorde. Ibid., Job xxxi. 30. I neuer suffred my mouth to do soch a sinne, as to wysh him euell.
1552. Huloet, Wyshe ille to any things, fascino.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 97. I would neither wish thee a greater plague, nor him a deadlyer poyson.
a. 1586. Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 72. I will not wish vnto you … to be rimed to death.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., X. (S.T.S.), II. 359. To salute thame baith, wisse thame gude morne.
1610. Shaks., Temp., V. i. 215. Let griefe and sorrow still embrace his heart, That doth not wish you ioy.
1623. Heminge & Condell, Shaks. Wks., To Rdrs. And such Readers we wish him.
c. 1720. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier, I. 39. They wished the Swedes Success.
1816. Jane Austen, Emma, x. I wish Jane Fairfax very well; but she tires me to death.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., vii. I have been prayed for, and wished well to, in your congregations.
1885. Law Times, LXXIX. 345/2. [He] wished the officials good night, and left the room.
b. To desire, or express a desire for, the welfare or misfortune of (a person); only in evil wished, ILL-WISH v., WELL-WISHED.
1577. Hellowes, Gueuara’s Chron., 325. All three were so euil wished in the Common wealth, that the least euill which they would them … was but death.
1604. Bodley, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 48. I leave you both as well wished, as if you were to enjoy the best wishes bestowed this new year’s day in England.
5. In expressions of desire for something to be done by another, thus conveying a request; hence, to request, entreat; formerly sometimes, to bid, command: a. a thing or action (with various const. as in 1): cf. DESIRE v. 5.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxiii. 259. He came to Huon & wysshyd ye fetters fro all there fete [orig. soubhaita leurs fers hors de leurs iambes].
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., 38. To wishe of God to purge oure hartes from all filthines and vngodlie dealinge.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., IX. (S.T.S.), II. 236. I wisse rather … that in hope of barnes he take Margaret rather than Magdalen for his bedfallow.
1596. Bacon, Max. Com. Law, ix. (1636), 36. The Statute of 27. H. 8. of uses, that wisheth that the cestui que use shall have the possession in quality and degree as hee had the use.
1671. Milton, Samson, 1414. Brethren farewel, your company along I will not wish.
a. 1674. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., VIII. § 272. To confer with lord Digby, who … should find the best way to make the earl of Antrim to communicate the affair to him, and to wish his assistance.
1842. Dickens, Amer. Notes, xiv. Whatever we wished done was done with great civility and readiness.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 429. I wish that you would tell me about his death.
b. a person to do something: cf. DESIRE v. 6.
1583. Stocker, Civ. Warres Lowe C., IV. 55. [The] Captaine … wished them quietly departe, without thei liked to be saluted with Cannon shotte.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., V. i. 79. Duk. You were not bid to speake. Luc. No, Nor wish’d to hold my peace.
1604. Dekker & Middleton, Honest Wh., I. C 2 b. Hie to the Constable, And in all calme order wish him to attach them.
1716. Swift, Poems, Phyllis, 35. The Groom was wish’d to saddle Crop.
1854. Dickens, Hard T., II. i. Would you wish the gentleman to be shewn in, ma’am?
1859. Ruskin, Two Paths, i. § 35. There is another thing I wish you to notice specially in these statues.
† c. To invite, ‘bid’ (a person to a place). Obs. rare.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxiii. 259. He … causyd them to syt downe at his owne table that he had wysshyd thether [orig. eut fait venir].
6. To recommend (a person) to another, or to a place, etc. Obs. or dial.
orig. prob. belonging to WIS v.1 2, to direct.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., I. i. 113. If I can by any meanes light on a fit man to teach her that wherein she delights, I will wish him to her father.
1610. B. Jonson, Alch., I. iii. I was wish’d to your worship, by a gentleman,… That say’s you know mens planets.
1633. Rowley, Match at Mid-n., IV. i. He sayes he was wisht to [a] very wealthy Widdow, but of you he has heard much Histories, that he will marry you.
1751. Eliza Heywood, Betsy Thoughtless, I. xvi. 196. Now I have been wished to several fine women, but my fancy gives the preference to you.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxiii. She passed that interval of time in the lodging of a woman, an acquaintance of that person who had wished her to that place.
1846. Brockett, N. C. Gloss. (ed. 3), s.v., Can you wish me to a customer?
7. To influence in a magical or occult way by wishing; to bewitch by a desire or imprecation. dial.
1848. Mrs. Gaskell, Mary Barton, vii. We mun get him away from his mother. He cannot die while she’s wishing him.
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., vi. 134. When he hears that he has been ‘wished,’ he … takes to his bed at once.
¶ I wish, corrupt form of iwis: see WIS v.2
