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Origin and history of wont

wont(adj.)

"accustomed, in the habit of," a contraction by c. 1400 of Old English wunod, past participle of wunian "to dwell, inhabit, exist; be accustomed, be used to," from Proto-Germanic *wunen "to be content, to rejoice," reconstructed (Watkins) to be from PIE root *wen- (1) "to desire, strive for."

Germanic cognates include Old Saxon wunon, Old Frisian wonia "to dwell, remain, be used to," Old High German wonen, German wohnen "to dwell;" if the PIE is correct the original meaning of the Germanic verbs was "be content, rejoice." It is related to win (v.) and wean.

Hence, as a verb, "make accustomed" (to), mid-15c.; "be accustomed, use" (1540s). Compare wonted. Also see wone.

also from c. 1400

wont(n.)

"habitual usage, custom, personal practice," c. 1400, from wont (adj.).

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to wont

wean(v.)

"train (an infant or young animal) to forego suckling," c. 1200, wenen, from Old English wenian "to accustom, habituate," from Proto-Germanic *wanjan (source also of Old Norse venja, Dutch wennen, Old High German giwennan, German gewöhnen "to accustom"), reconstructed in Watkins to be from causative form of PIE root *wen- (1) "to desire, strive for."

The sense of "accustom a child to not suckling from the breast" in Old English and early Middle English generally was expressed by gewenian or awenian, which has a sense of "unaccustom" (compare German abgewöhnen, entwöhnen "to wean," literally "to unaccustom"). The modern word might be either (or both) of these verbs with the prefix lost, or it might be wenian in a specialized sense of "accustom to a new diet."

The figurative extension to any pursuit, habit, or desire, "detach or alienate," is from 1520s.

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."