Etymograph

English

winne

Winne comes from Old English wynn ‘joy, delight, pleasure’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to wish, desire, love’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-1‘to wish, desire, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wunjō1‘joy, desire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wunnju1‘joy’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wynn1‘joy, delight, pleasure’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500winne1
  6. Englishtodaywinne1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English winne

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-Wiktionary, English winne‘to wish, desire, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wunjōWiktionary, English winne‘joy, desire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wunnjuWiktionary, English winne‘joy’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wynnWiktionary, English winne‘joy, delight, pleasure’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500winneWiktionary, English winne
  6. EnglishtodaywinneWiktionary, English winne

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to wish, desire, love’

won, wonder, wish, wont, venom, venerable, wean, ween, venereal, venerate, 17 more

through Proto-West Germanic *wunnju ‘joy’

winsome

through Old English wynn ‘joy, delight, pleasure’

win, wen, wynn

Today it means

noun Joy; delight; pleasure.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “winne”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- / winne

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