Want is Norse, from Old Norse vanta, "to lack," borrowed about 1200, and its original meaning was purely negative: to be lacking, to be deficient in something. The sense everyone now uses — to desire, to wish for — is not recorded until 1706, five hundred years later.
That shift from lacking to desiring is one of the quieter revolutions in English. The older sense survives in phrases like for want of, in want of repair, and in wanting found wanting; it also explains want ad and the noun want meaning destitution. The Norse root is related to Old English wanian, "to diminish," which gives modern wane. Want belongs to the same layer of blunt everyday Scandinavian vocabulary as take, die, knife, law, skin and sky.
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. also from c. 1200 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
want came in through Old Norse, and its spelling follows that family's conventions.
What gives it away on the page
| core vocabulary that isn't Old English | Borrowing pronouns is rare and marks deep contact, not fashion.they, them, their, are, take, want, die, knife, window, law |
Old Norse in the spelling guide · guess another word's family