wish, wische, wiss he

i. & t. [A. S. wýscan, wiscan to wish, from wúsc a wish (q. v.); cogn. with Dut. wenschen; Icel. æskja; Dan. önske; Sw. onska; O. H. Ger. wunscan; Ger. wünschen. An n appears therefore to have been lost from the English word, the proper form of which should be winsh. From the same root as Sansc. van to ask; English win (q. v.).] A. Intransitive : 1. To have a wish or desire; to cherish a desire, either for what is, or for what is not supposed to be attainable; to long. (Followed by for before the object desired.) "The sweets we wish for." Shakesp.: Rape of Lucrece, 867. 2. To be disposed or inclined; to have certain feel ings (with well or ill ); as, He wishes well (or ill ) toward you. *3. To hope or fear in a slight degree, or with a preponderance of fear over hope. "I wish it may not prove some ominous foretoken of misfortune, to have met with such a miser as I am." Sidney, B. Transitive : 1. To desire; to long for. "I would not wish any companion." Shakesp.: Tempest, iii. 1. 2. Followed by an infinitive or clause. "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper."3 John 2. 3. To frame or expre a desire or wish concerning; to desire to be (with words completing the sense). "He could wish himself in Thames." --Shakesp.: Henry V., iv. 1. 4. To imprecate or call down upon; to invoke. "Let them be driven backward, and put to shame that wish me evil."- Psalm xl. 14. *5. To ask, to desire, to invite, to request, to bid. "I will wish thee never more to dance." Shakesp.: Love's Labor's Lost , v. 2. *6. To recommend; to commit to another's confidence, kindne , or care with favoring representations; to commend with a view to the acceptance of. "If I can by any means light on a fit man to teach her that wherein she delights, I will wish him to her father." -Shakesp.: Taming of the Shrew, i. 1. wish, *wusch, subst. [A. S. wúsc; cogn. with O. Dut. wunsch; Icel. ösk; O. H. Ger. wunsc; Ger, wunsch.] IMG:content-0953.png:[blocks in formation] II. Compar. Relig .: A word often occurring in ancient Teutonic mythology, and used to signify the sum-total of well-being and ble edne , the fullne . In the Middle Age Wish ( Wunsch ) appears to have been personified by the poets as a mighty creative being. (See extract.) "That Wish was personified, and very boldly by the Christian poets, is abundantly proved. That he was ever believed in as a person, even in heathen times, is, to my thinking, far from clear. I believe some German schol ars regard the notion as little better than a mare's nest." -Grimm: Deut. Mythol . (Eng. ed.), i. 143. (Translator's note.)