"W" Word Origins

wallop

French

From Old Northern French walop ("gallop"), which is also the root of the modern word "gallop" — the two are historical twins.

walloper

Origin

From wallop + -er.

wallow

Latin

From Old English wealwian, meaning "to roll," related to Latin volvere, also meaning "to roll" (as in "revolve").

wallowish

Origin

From Middle English walwisch, equivalent to wallow (“tasteless, bland”) + -ish.

wallpaper

Origin · 1800

A straightforward compound of wall and paper, dating from the 1800s when patterned paper became a common way to decorate room walls.

Walmart

Origin

Believed to come from "Walton's Market", after founder Sam Walton; the company traded as Wal-Mart before simplifying its name to Walmart.

walnut

Old English

From Old English wealhhnutu, literally "foreign nut" — the wealh part meant "foreign" or "Welsh," since the nut reached England from continental Europe rather than growing natively there.

Walpole

Old English

From Old English words for "wall" and "pool".

walrus

Dutch

Borrowed from Dutch walrus, itself a blend of wal ("whale") and ros ("horse") — an old sailors' description of the animal as part-whale, part-horse.

Walsh

Middle English

From Middle English Walsch (“Welsh(man)”), from Old English wælisċ, variant of wīelisċ.

walshe

Origin

Inherited from Middle English Walsch, from Old English wælisc, variant of wīelisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *walhisk, from Proto-Germanic *walhiskaz; equivalent to wale (“outsider”) + -isch.

Walt

Origin

Named after Walter Mitty, the daydreaming fantasist from James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," who imagines himself as a hero in scenarios far grander than his real life.

Walter

Middle English

A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler”) + *harjaz (“army, host”). Related to Old English Waldhere. Compare herald and Harold, in which these elements are reversed.

Walters

Origin

From Walter + -s.

waltz

German

From German Walzer, from walzen "to turn" or "to roll" — the dance is named for its distinctive turning, gliding steps.

waltzer

Origin

From waltz + -er.

wampum

Origin

Clipping of wampumpeag (“wampum”), probably borrowed from Massachusett wampompeage (“string of white beads used as money”). Compare peag (“string of white beads used as money”), also a clipping of wampumpeag. Noun sense 3 (“common kingsnake”) is from the similarity of the snake’s appearance to a string of wampum. Cognates Penobscot wάpαpəyak (singular wάpαpi) Unami òpapiàk (singular òpapi)

wan

Old English

From Old English wann, meaning "dark" or "dusky" — the sense shifted over time from darkness to the pale, drained look of illness.

wand

Old Norse

From Old Norse vǫndr, "switch" or "twig," from a Proto-Germanic root meaning a slender rod — related distantly to the idea of something that bends or twists.

Wanda

Origin

Borrowed from Polish Wanda, possibly derived from an ethnic term for “a Wend”.

wander

Old English

From Old English wandrian, "to roam or stray," built on a Germanic root meaning "to turn" — the same idea behind German wandern and Dutch wandelen.

Wanderer

Origin

Simply wander plus the agent suffix -er, giving "one who wanders."

wandering

Origin

From wander + -ing.

wanderlust

German

A borrowing of German Wanderlust, from wandern "to hike, ramble" and Lust "desire".

wandwork

Origin

From wand + work.

wandy

Origin

From wand + -y.

wane

Old English

From Old English wana, meaning "lack" or "deficiency" — the same ancient root underlies "want" and "wan," all connected to the idea of something falling short or emptying out.

wang

Chinese

The slang senses are thought to be imitative (echoing the sound of a solid hit), unrelated to Wang as a common Chinese and Korean surname.

wangle

Origin

Blend of wag + dangle, first attested 1810–1820. Alternatively, from an alteration of waggle or wankle.

waning

Middle English

From Middle English waninge, alteration of earlier waniand, waniende, from Old English waniende, from Proto-Germanic *wanōndz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wanōną (“to wane”), equivalent to wane + -ing.

wank

Origin

Origin unknown. First known use as a verb is 1905, as a noun 1948. Perhaps compare regional slang term wang, whang (“to whack or beat”). Compare Dutch wanken (“to move back and forth; move with the hands”).

wanker

Origin

UK 1890s. From stwanker, from stinker. Used at Felsted School, Essex.

wanna

Origin · 1820

A written approximation of casual spoken speech, recorded in print as early as the 1820s, reflecting how "want to" naturally runs together in fast conversation.

wannabe

Origin · 1980

A written form of the reduced phrase "want to be," which became a fixture of pop culture slang after Madonna's "Wannabe"-style fan trend took off in the mid-1980s.

wanse

Origin

From Middle English wansen (“to decrease, diminish”), from Old English wansian (“to diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wansōn, a variant of *wanisōn, from Proto-Germanic *wanisōną (“to lessen”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”). Cognate with Old Norse vansa (“to do too little, suffer loss”), Old Norse vansi (“lack, want”). More at wane.

want

Old Norse

From Old Norse vanta, "to lack," ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "deficiency" — the same root that gives us "wane" and "wan."

wanting

Middle English

From Middle English wantyng, wantynge, wantand, equivalent to want + -ing.

wantok

Origin

Borrowed from Tok Pisin wantok, from English one talk, that is, a speaker of the same language.

wanton

Middle English

From Middle English wantoun, built from wan- ("un-") plus a word meaning "trained" or "disciplined" — literally "undisciplined."

wantonly

Middle English

From Middle English wantounly, wantounliche, equivalent to wanton + -ly.

wantwit

Origin

From Middle English wanten wit, equivalent to want + wit.

WAP

English

In the slang sense, an initialism of a crude phrase for female arousal; in computing, an initialism of Wireless Application Protocol.

wapentake

Origin

From Middle English wapentake, wepentake, wapentache, wapentac, from Old English wǣpenġetæc, from Old Norse vápnatak, from vápn (“weapon”) + taka (“take”), equivalent to weapon + take.

wappened

Origin

From wap (“to engage in sexual intercourse”).

war

French

From Old Northern French werre ("guerre" in modern French), ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "confusion" or "strife" — war gradually replaced older English words for armed conflict during the Middle Ages.

warble

Origin

Likely imitative in origin, echoing the trilling quality of the sound itself.

warbler

Origin

From warble + -er.

warcraft

Middle English

From Middle English werrecraft, a compound of war and craft in its old sense of "skill" (and, separately, "vessel").