Etymograph

English

wonder

Wonder comes from Middle English wonder, from Old English wundor ‘wonder, miracle’, from Proto-West Germanic *wundr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wundrą1‘wonder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wundr1‘marvel’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150wundor1‘wonder, miracle’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wonder1‘marvel’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604wonder1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English wonder
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “I wonder in my Soule / What you would…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wundrąWiktionary, English wonder‘wonder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wundrWiktionary, English wonder‘marvel’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150wundorWiktionary, English wonder‘wonder, miracle’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wonderWiktionary, English wonder‘marvel’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604wonderWiktionary, English wonder. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “I wonder in my Soule / What you would…”

The story

Via PIE cognate with English wish (see more).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with wonder, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to desire, wish for, strive after, win, love’

  • win ← winn ← winn ← *winną
  • wish ← wisshen ← wȳsċan ← *wunskijan ← *wunskijaną
  • won ← wonen ← wunian ← *wunēn ← *wunāną
  • venom ← venym ← venim ← *venīmen ← venīnum
  • wen ← wynn ← *wunnju ← *wunjō ← *wénh₁-ih₂ ~ wn̥h₁-yéh₂-s
  • wont ← ġewunod ← ġewunian ← wunian ← *wunēn
  • wynn ← wynne ← *wunnju ← *wunjō ← *wn̥h₁yeh₂
  • venerable ← venerabilis ← veneror ← venus ← *wénh₁-os ~ *wénh₁-es-os
  • wean ← wenen ← wenian ← *wannjan ← *wanjaną
  • ween ← wene ← wēn ← *wāni ← *wēniz
  • winsome ← wynsom ← wynsum ← *wunnjusam ← *wunnju
  • venereal ← venereus

19 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *wundrą →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun A sense of awe, astonishment and curiosity, inspired by unexpected events, novel experiences and inexplicable circumstances, sometimes accompanied by surprise, shock or reverence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wonder”. 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-Germanic *wundrą / wonder