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Origin and history of win

win(v.)

"be successful or victorious" in a game, contest, or battle, c. 1300, winnen, a fusion of Old English winnan "to labor, toil, struggle for, work at; contend, fight," and gewinnan "to gain or succeed by struggling, conquer, obtain." Both are from Proto-Germanic *wennanan "to seek to gain," which is reconstructed to be from PIE root *wen- (1) "to desire, strive for," which Boutkan calls "a clearly reconstructable root with different semantic developments," but probably originally "want," hence "try to obtain."

The sense of "exert effort" in early Middle English faded into "earn (things of value) through effort" (c. 1300) but lingers in breadwinner. For sense evolution from "work for" to "obtain," compare get, gain.

Related: Won; winning. The meaning "gain the affection or esteem of" (win friends) is by late 14c., in Middle English you also could win enemies.

Phrase you can't win them all is attested by 1886 in sports-writing, a verbal shrug in reaction to a loss.

The Detroit Baseball Club may win two games out of three with Chicago, but it can't win them all, for Chicago took one to-day. [New York Times, July 9, 1886]

Germanic cognates include Old Saxon winnan, Old Norse vinna, Old Frisian winna, Dutch winnen "to gain, win," Danish vinde "to win," Old High German winnan "to strive, struggle, fight," German gewinnen "to gain, win," Gothic gawinnen "to suffer, toil."

also from c. 1300

win(n.)

Old English winn "labor, toil; strife, contention, conflict; profit, gain," from the source of win (v.).

All of these are obsolete. The modern sense of "a victory in a game or contest" is a new word, derived from the verb, attested by 1862.

Entries linking to win

breadwinner(n.)

also bread-winner, "one who supplies a living for himself and others," especially a family, 1821, from the noun bread (probably in a literal sense) + winner, from win (v.) in its sense of "struggle for, work at." Attested slightly earlier (1818) in the sense of "skill or art by which one makes a living." Not too far removed from the image at the root of lord (n.).

gain(n.)

c. 1200, gein, "advantage, benefit; help," c. 1300, "reward, profit, that which has been acquired" (possessions, resources, wealth), from Old French gain, gaaigne "gain, profit, advantage; work, business; booty; arable land" (12c.), from Germanic, and from Old Norse (see gain (v.)). Meaning "any incremental increase" (in weight, etc.) is by 1851. Related: Gains. The French word enfolded the notions of "profit from agriculture" and "booty, prey."