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wane [wane 词源字典]: wane: [OE] Wane and Norwegian vana ‘spoil, waste’ are the only survivors of a family of Germanic verbs that goes back to a prehistoric *wanōjan. This was derived from the base *wan- ‘lacking’, which also produced English want. The related but now defunct English adjective wane ‘lacking’ is represented in the first syllable of wanton.
=> want, wanton[wane etymology, wane origin, 英语词源]
want: want: [12] Etymologically, to want something is to ‘lack’ it (a sense still intact in the noun want); ‘wishing to have’ is a secondary extension of this. The word was borrowed from Old Norse vanta ‘be lacking’. This in turn was descended from a prehistoric Germanic *wanatōn, which was formed from the base *wan- ‘lacking’ (source also of English wane).
=> wane
wanton: wanton: [13] Someone who is wanton is etymologically ‘lacking in proper upbringing or discipline’. The word was formed from the Middle English prefix wan- ‘un-’ (a reduced form of the adjective wane ‘lacking’, which is related to the modern English verb wane) and towen, a descendant of Old English togen, the past participle of tēon ‘pull’, hence ‘bring up, train, discipline’.
=> wane
war: war: [12] The word war was acquired from werre, the northern dialect form of Old French guerre. This in turn came from prehistoric Germanic *werra ‘strife’, which was formed from the base *wers- (source also of English worse and German wirren ‘confuse’). Warrior [13] is from the Old Northern French derivative werreieor. The diminutive of guerra, the Spanish equivalent of French guerre, gave English guerilla.
=> guerilla
warble: warble: [14] The etymological notion underlying the word warble is of ‘whirling around’; its application to sounds, originally in the sense ‘whirl of notes, trill’, is a secondary development. It was borrowed from Old Northern French werbler, a derivative of the noun werble ‘trill, melody’. And this in turn came from Frankish *hwirbilōn ‘whirl, trill’, which is distantly related to English whirl. (Warble ‘swelling on an animal’s back caused by insect larva’ [16] is a completely different word. It may have been borrowed from the now obsolete Swedish compound varbulde, literally ‘pustumour’, or a related Scandinavian word.)
ward: ward: [OE] Ward and guard are ultimately the same word. Both go back to a prehistoric West Germanic *wartho ‘watching over’. But whereas guard reached English via Old French, ward is a lineal descendant of the Germanic word. The noun originally meant ‘watching, guarding’; its application to an individual room of an institution where people are guarded or looked after (at first including prisons as well as hospitals) dates from the 16th century.

The verb ward (now mainly encountered in ward off) comes from the Germanic derivative *warthōjan. The early sense ‘guardianship, custody’ is preserved in such expressions as ward of court, and also in warden [13] (from the Old Northern French derivative wardein, corresponding to the central French form guardien ‘guardian’) and warder [14], from Anglo-Norman wardere.

The word’s ultimate source is the base *war- ‘watch, be on one’s guard, take care’ (source also of English aware, beware, warn, wary, etc).
=> aware, beware, guard, warn, wary
wardrobe: wardrobe: [14] A wardrobe was originally a room in which clothes were kept. It did not shrink to a cupboard until the 18th century. The word was borrowed from Old Northern French warderobe, a compound formed from warder ‘look after, keep’ (a relative of English ward) and robe ‘garment’.
=> robe, ward
ware: ware: English has two distinct words ware, but the likelihood is that both come from the same ultimate source – the prehistoric Germanic base *war-, *wer-. This denoted ‘watch, be on one’s guard, take care’, and also produced English ward and warn. It may have had links with Latin verērī ‘fear’ (source of English revere). From it was formed the adjective *waraz, which evolved into English ware [OE] – now virtually obsolete except in the derived forms aware [13], beware [13], and wary [16].

It is thought that ware ‘article for sale’ [OE] could also come from the base *war- – its etymological meaning thus being ‘something one takes care of’. Borrowed into French, *war- produced garage, subsequently acquired by English.
=> aware, beware, garage, guard, ward, warn, warrant, wary
warlock: warlock: [OE] Etymologically, a warlock is a ‘liar on oath’, and hence a ‘traitor’ or ‘deceiver’. Indeed, the word originally meant ‘traitor’ in English. It soon broadened out into a general term of abuse, and it was also used as an epithet for the ‘Devil’, but the modern sense ‘evil sorcerer’ did not emerge until the 14th century. It started life as a compound noun formed from wǣr ‘faith, pledge’ (a relative of English very and German wahr ‘true’) and -loga ‘liar’ (a derivative of lēogan, the ancestor of modern English lie).
=> lie, very
warm: warm: [OE] English, German, and Dutch warm and Swedish and Danish varm go back to a common prehistoric source, *warmaz. This in turn was descended from Indo-European *ghworm-, *ghwerm-, which also produced Greek thermós ‘hot’ (source of English thermal, thermometer, etc), Latin formus ‘warm’ and fornus ‘oven’ (source of English fornication and furnace), and Armenian jerm ‘warm’.
=> fornication, furnace, thermal
warn: warn: [OE] Warn, and its German relative warnen, go back to a prehistoric West Germanic *warnōjan. This was formed from the base *war- ‘watch, be on one’s guard, take care’, which also produced English ward, ware, wary, etc. Germanic *warnjan, which evidently had close links with *warnōjan, was borrowed into French, and surfaced in English as garnish.
=> garnish, ward, ware, wary
warp: warp: [OE] Warp originally meant ‘throw’ (‘Saint Paul’s head after his decease in a deep vewar [fishpond] warped was’, Scottish Legends of the Saints 1375). The notion of ‘bending’ or ‘twisting’ is a secondary development (first recorded in the 14th century). Its immediate inspiration may have been the related Old Norse past participle orpinn ‘warped’, but the underlying motivation was no doubt a conceptual link between ‘throwing’ and ‘twisting’, presumably via ‘throw with a twisting action’ (it is probably no coincidence that English throw originally meant ‘twist’).

The word came from a prehistoric Germanic base *werb-, which also produced German werfen and Dutch werpan ‘throw’. This was probably descended from Indo-European *wer-, source also of Latin vertere ‘turn’, from which English gets revert, version, etc.
=> convert, revert, version, wharf
warrant: warrant: [13] Warrant probably goes back ultimately to werenti ‘protector’, a noun use of the present participle of Old High German werren ‘protect’, which in turn was formed from the base *wer- ‘watch, be on one’s guard, take care’ (source of English ward, wary, etc). This was borrowed into medieval Latin as warantus, and passed into English via Old Northern French warant. The central Old French form of the word was garant, which passed into English via Spanish as guarantee.
=> guarantee, ware
warren: warren: [14] A warren is etymologically a ‘fenced-off’ area. The word was acquired from warenne, the Anglo-Norman version of Old French garenne ‘game-park’. This in turn came from Gaulish *varrenna ‘area bounded by a fence’, which was derived from *varros ‘post’. The specific link with rabbits (originally as a reserve set aside for breeding rabbits, now an area where wild rabbits live) is a secondary development.
warrior: warrior: see war
wary: wary: see ware
wash: wash: [OE] Etymologically, to wash something is probably to clean it with ‘water’. Like German waschen, Dutch wasschen, and Swedish vaska, it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *waskan, which seems to have been derived from *wat-, the base which produced English water. (Washer ‘small disc with a hole’ [14] is usually assumed to come from the same source, but its semantic link with wash has never been satisfactorily explained.)
=> water
wasp: wasp: [OE] Etymologically, the wasp may be the ‘weaver’. The word comes ultimately from Indo- European *wobhes- or *wops-, which was probably derived from the base *webh-, *wobh- ‘weave’ (source of English weave, web, etc); the allusion is presumably to the papery nest which many species construct. West Germanic took this over as *wabis- or *waps-, and the process of metathesis (reversal of sounds) produced English wasp and German wespe. From the same Indo-European ancestor come Latin vespa (source of French guêpe, Italian vespa, and Spanish avispa) and Russian osa.
=> weave, web
wassail: wassail: [13] Wassail was borrowed from Old Norse ves heill, literally ‘be healthy’. This was a toast or salutation given when about to drink (much like English good health!). Ves was the imperative singular of vesa or vera ‘be’ (a relative of English was and were) and heill is essentially the same word as English hale and whole, and related to healthy.
=> hale, healthy, whole
waste: waste: [12] The etymological notions underlying waste are ‘emptiness’ and ‘desolation’. Its main modern sense, ‘squander’, is a comparatively recent development, first recorded in English in the 14th century. Its ultimate source is Latin vāstus ‘empty’, which has also given English devastate and vast. From this was formed the verb vāstāre ‘devastate, lay waste’, which passed into English via Old Northern French waster. The derivative wastrel dates from the 16th century.
=> devastate, vast