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Webster 1913 Edition

Win

Win

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Won
,
Obs.
Wan
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Winning
.]
[OE.
winnen
, AS.
winnan
to strive, labor, fight, endure; akin to OFries.
winna
, OS.
winnan
, D.
winnen
to win, gain, G. ge
winnen
, OHG.
winnan
to strive, struggle, Icel.
vinna
to labor, suffer, win, Dan.
vinde
to win, Sw.
vinna
, Goth.
winnan
to suffer, Skr.
van
to wish, get, gain, conquer. √138. Cf.
Venerate
,
Winsome
,
Wish
,
Wont
,
Adj.
]
1.
To gain by superiority in competition or contest; to obtain by victory over competitors or rivals;
as, to
win
the prize in a gate; to
win
money; to
win
a battle, or to
win
a country.
“This city for to win.”
Chaucer.
“Who thus shall Canaan win.”
Milton.
Thy well-breathed horse
Impels the flying car, and
wins
the course.
Dryden.
2.
To allure to kindness; to bring to compliance; to gain or obtain, as by solicitation or courtship.
Thy virtue
wan
me; with virtue preserve me.
Sir P. Sidney.
She is a woman; therefore to be
won
.
Shakespeare
3.
To gain over to one’s side or party; to obtain the favor, friendship, or support of; to render friendly or approving;
as, to
win
an enemy; to
win
a jury
.
4.
To come to by toil or effort; to reach; to overtake.
[Archaic]
Even in the porch he him did
win
.
Spenser.
And when the stony path began,
By which the naked peak they
wan
,
Up flew the snowy ptarmigan.
Sir W. Scott.
5.
(Mining)
To extract, as ore or coal.
Raymond.
Syn. – To gain; get; procure; earn. See
Gain
.

Win

,
Verb.
I.
To gain the victory; to be successful; to triumph; to prevail.
Nor is it aught but just
That he, who in debate of truth hath
won
,
should
win
in arms.
Milton.
To win of
,
to be conqueror over.
[Obs.]
Shak.
–
To win on
or
To win upon
.
(a)
To gain favor or influence with.
“You have a softness and beneficence winning on the hearts of others.”
Dryden.
(b)
To gain ground on.
“The rabble . . . will in time win upon power.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Win

WIN

,
Verb.
T.
pret. and pp. won. [G.]
1.
To gain by success in competition or contest; as, to win the prize in a game; to win money; to win a battle, or to win a country. Battles are won by superior strength or skill.
--Who thus shall Canaan win.
2.
To gain by solicitation or courtship.
3.
To obtain; to allure to kindness or compliance. Thy virtue won me. Win your enemy by kindness.
4.
To gain by persuasion or influence; as, an orator wins his audience by argument. The advocate has won the jury.
And Mammon wins his way, where seraphs might despair.

WIN

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To gain the victory.
Nor is it aught but just that he, who in debate of truth hath won, should win in arms.
To win upon, to gain favor or influence; as, to win upon the heart or affections.
2.
To gain ground.
The rabble will in time win upon power.
To win of, to be conqueror.

Definition 2024

win

win

See also: Wīn, wɨn, and -win

English

Noun

win ‎(plural wins)

  1. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) Pleasure; joy; delight.
Derived terms
  • worldly win

Etymology 2

From Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan ‎(“to labour, swink, toil, trouble oneself; resist, oppose, contradict; fight, strive, struggle, rage; endure”) (compare Old English ġewinnan ‎(“conquer, obtain, gain; endure, bear, suffer; be ill”)), from Proto-Germanic *winnaną ‎(“to swink, labour, win, gain, fight”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‎(“to strive, wish, desire, love”). Cognate with Low German winnen, Dutch winnen, German gewinnen, Swedish vinna.

Verb

win ‎(third-person singular simple present wins, present participle winning, simple past and past participle won)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To conquer, defeat.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book IV:
      For and we doo bataille we two wyl fyghte with one knyȝt at ones / and therfore yf ye wille fyghte soo we wille be redy at what houre ye wille assigne / And yf ye wynne vs in bataille the lady shal haue her landes ageyne / ye say wel sayd sir Vwayne / therfor make yow redy so that ye be here to morne in the defence of the ladyes ryght
    • 1998, Rhapsody, Emerald Sword
      For the glory, the power to win the Black Lord, I will search for the Emerald Sword.
  2. (transitive) To triumph or achieve victory in (a game, a war, etc.).
  3. (transitive) To gain (a prize) by succeeding in competition or contest.
    to win the jackpot in a lottery;  to win a bottle of wine in a raffle‎
  4. (transitive) To obtain (someone) by wooing.
  5. (intransitive) To achieve victory.
    Who would win in a fight between an octopus and a dolphin?‎
  6. (transitive) To obtain (something desired).
    The company hopes to win an order from the government worth over 5 million dollars.‎
  7. (transitive) To cause a victory for someone.
    The success of the economic policies should win Mr. Smith the next elections.‎
    The policy success should win the elections for Mr. Smith.‎
  8. (transitive, obsolete) To come to by toil or effort; to reach; to overtake.
    • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
      Even in the porch he him did win.
    • Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
      And when the stony path began, / By which the naked peak they won, / Up flew the snowy ptarmigan.
  9. (transitive, mining) To extract (ore, coal, etc.).
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Raymond to this entry?)

Conjugation

Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English winn, winne, from Old English winn ‎(“toil, labor, trouble, hardship; profit, gain; conflict, strife, war”), from Proto-Germanic *winną ‎(“labour, struggle, fight”), from Proto-Indo-European *wen- ‎(“to strive, desire, wish, love”). Cognate with German Gewinn ‎(“profit, gain”), Dutch gewin ‎(“profit, gain”).

Noun

win ‎(plural wins)

  1. gain; profit; income
  2. wealth; owndom; goods
  3. an individual victory (opposite of a loss)
    Our first win of the season put us in high spirits.
    • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport:
      Giovani dos Santos smashed home a third five minutes later to wrap up the win.
  4. (slang) a feat, an (extraordinary) achievement (opposite of a fail)
Translations

Derived terms

Chuukese

Etymology

Borrowing from English win.

Noun

win

  1. win
  2. victory
  3. prize

Verb

win

  1. to win

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɪn
  • IPA(key): /ʋɪn/

Verb

win

  1. first-person singular present indicative of winnen
  2. imperative of winnen

Kis

Noun

win

  1. woman

References

  • Stephen Adolphe Wurm, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study (1976)
  • Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia (1988)

Old Dutch

Noun

wīn m

  1. wine

Descendants

Old English

Etymology

From Germanic, from Latin vinum. Cognate with Old Saxon wīn (Dutch wijn), Old High German wīn (German Wein), Old Norse vín (Swedish vin), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽 ‎(wein).

Pronunciation

Noun

wīn n

  1. wine

Polish

Noun

win

  1. genitive plural of wino
  2. genitive plural of wina

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English wind.

Noun

win

  1. wind
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 2:7 (translation here):
      Bihain God, Bikpela i kisim graun na em i wokim man long en. Na em i winim win bilong laip i go insait long nus bilong man, na man i kisim laip.

Related terms

This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Tok Pisin is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From English wind.

Noun

win

  1. wind

Derived terms

Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡwiːn/

Noun

win

  1. Soft mutation of gwin.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
gwin win ngwin unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Etymology

From Middle English winne, wunne, from Old English wynn ‎(“joy, rapture, pleasure, delight, gladness”), from Proto-Germanic *wunjō ‎(“joy, delight, pleasure, lust”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‎(“to strive, wish, desire, love”). Cognate with German Wonne ‎(“bliss, joy, delight”), archaic Dutch wonne ‎(“joy”), Danish ynde ‎(“grace”), Icelandic yndi ‎(“delight”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wɪn/
  • Rhymes: -ɪn
  • Homophone: wynn
  • IPA(key): /wiːn/

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