Word: win Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan (“to labour, swink, toil,”) (compare Old English ġewinnan (“conquer, obtain, gain; endure, bear, suffer; be ill”)), from Proto-West Germanic *winnan, from Proto-Germanic *winnaną (“to swink, labour, win, gain, fight”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive, wish, desire, love”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian wan, wane, wen, wine, wune (“to win”), Saterland Frisian and West Frisian winne (“to win”), Cimbrian gabènnan (“to win”), Dutch and Low German winnen (“to win”), German gewinnen (“to win”), Luxembourgish gewannen (“to win”), Danish vinde (“to win”), Faroese and Icelandic vinna (“to win”), Norwegian Bokmål vinne (“to win”), Norwegian Nynorsk vinna, vinne (“to win”), Swedish vinna (“to win”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (winnan, “to suffer”); also Latin venus (“beauty, charm, elegance, grace; beloved, love”), Albanian vuaj, vuj (“to suffer; to endure”), Sanskrit वनोति (vanoti, “to desire, like, love, wish; to gain, procure; to win; to prepare; to hurt, injure”). Pronunciation: /ˈwɪn/, [ˈwɪn] 1. To conquer, defeat. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: 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 Example: For the glory, the power to win the Black Lord, I will search for the Emerald Sword. 2. To reach some destination or object, despite difficulty or toil (now usually intransitive, with preposition or locative adverb). Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: I well may gang out, love, but I'll never win home. Example: No sooner did I get my freedom than my footsteps began to be dogged by the spies of the Iron Heel. It was necessary that they should be thrown off the track, and that I should win to California. 3. To triumph or achieve victory in (a game, a war, etc.). Labels: transitive 4. To gain (a prize) by succeeding in competition or contest. Labels: transitive Example: to win the jackpot in a lottery; to win a bottle of wine in a raffle 5. To obtain (someone) by wooing; to make an ally or friend of (frequently with over). Labels: transitive Example: Thy virtue won me; with virtue preserve me. Example: She is a woman; therefore to be won. 6. To achieve victory. Labels: intransitive Example: Who would win in a fight between an octopus and a dolphin? Example: Nah, I'd win. 7. To have power, coercion or control. Labels: intransitive Example: Ever since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Bostonians now run as "One Boston." The terrorists did not win. 8. To obtain (something desired). Labels: transitive Example: The company hopes to win an order from the government worth over 5 million dollars. 9. To cause a victory for someone. Labels: transitive Example: The success of the economic policies should win Mr. Smith the next elections. Example: The policy success should win the elections for Mr. Smith. 10. To extract (ore, coal, etc.). Labels: transitive 11. To defeat or surpass someone or something. Labels: informal, transitive 12. To take priority. Labels: informal, intransitive Example: If the local filters conflict with the global filters, the global filters always win.