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Origin and history of want

want(v.)

c. 1200, wanten, "be lacking, be deficient in something," from Old Norse vanta "to lack, want," earlier *wanaton, from Proto-Germanic *wanen, from PIE *weno-, suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." The meaning "desire, wish for, feel the need of" is recorded by 1706.

want(n.)

c. 1200, "deficiency, insufficiency, absence or lack of," from want (v.) and from Old Norse vant, neuter of vanr "wanting, deficient;" related to Old English wanian "to diminish" (see wane).

The meaning "state of destitution, poverty, penury" is recorded from early 14c. The meaning "thing desired, that which is lacking but needed" is from 1560s. Phrase for want of is recorded from c. 1400. The newspaper want ad is recorded from 1897. Middle English had wantsum (c. 1200) "in want, deprived of," literally "want-some."

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to want

wane(v.)

Middle English wannen, "decrease, be diminished," especially of the periodic lessening of the visible moon, from Old English wanian "make or become smaller gradually, diminish, decline, fade," from Proto-Germanic *wanōnan (source also of Old Saxon wanon, Old Norse vana, Old Frisian wania, Middle Dutch waenen, Old High German wanon "to wane, to grow less").

This is reconstructed to be from PIE *weno-, suffixed form of root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out." Also compare wan (adj.).Related: Waned; waning; wanes.

As a noun, "periodic waning of the moon," 1560s; the Old English noun sense of "shortage, lack" is obsolete except in some technical uses. In Old English, Middle English wane also was an adjective, with numbers, "(one or two) short of," as in one wane of a hundred "99."

unwanted(adj.)

1690s, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of want (v.).

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Trends of want

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

desire
"to wish or long for, express a wish to obtain," c. 1200, desiren, from Old French desirrer (12c.) "wish, desire, long for," from Latin desiderare "long for, wish for; demand, expect," the original sense perhaps being "await what the stars will bring," from the phrase de sidere "
need
Middle English nede, from Old English nied (West Saxon), ned (Mercian) "what is required, wanted, or desired; necessity, compulsion, the constraint of unavoidable circumstances; duty; hardship, emergency, trouble, time of peril or distress; errand, business," originally "violence
indigence
late 14c., from Old French indigence "indigence, need, privation" (13c.), from Latin indigentia "need, want; insatiable desire...," from indigentem (nominative indigens) "in want of, needing," present participle of indigere "to need, stand in need of...," from indu "in, within" (from PIE *endo-, extended form of root *en "in") + egere "be in need, want," from PIE *eg- "to...lack" (source also of Old Norse ekla "want, lack," Old High German eccherode "thin, weak")....
dishonesty
late 14c., "disgrace, shame, want of honor," from Old French deshonesté (13c., Modern French deshonnéteté) "dishonor, impropriety...Meaning "want of honesty, lack of integrity," the main modern sense, is recorded from 1590s....
diffidence
c. 1400, "distrust, want of confidence, doubt of the ability or disposition of others," from Latin diffidentia "mistrust,...distrust, want of confidence," from diffidere "to mistrust, lack confidence," from dis- "away" (see dis-) + fidere "to trust...Original sense (distrust of others) is obsolete; the modern sense is of "distrust of oneself, want of confidence in one's...
impotence
In reference to a complete want of (male) sexual potency, from c. 1500....The figurative senses of the word in Latin were "violence, fury, unbridled passion," via the notion of "want of self-restraining...
search
c. 1300, serchen, "go through and examine carefully and in detail" (transitive), from Old French cerchier "to search" (12c., Modern French chercher), from Latin circare "go about, wander, traverse," in Late Latin "to wander hither and thither, go round, explore," from circus "cir
chaser
c. 1300, "horse trained for chasing," agent noun from chase (v.), probably in some cases from Old French chaceor "huntsman, hunter." The meaning "water or mild beverage taken after a strong drink" is by 1894, U.S. colloquial. French had chasse (from chasser "to chase") "a drink o
essential
mid-14c., "that is such by its essence," from Late Latin essentialis, from essentia "being, essence," abstract noun formed (to translate Greek ousia "being, essence") from essent-, present participle stem of esse "to be," from PIE root *es- "to be." Meaning "pertaining to essence

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