"W" Word Origins

ward

Old English

From Old English weard, meaning "guard" or "watchman," from a Germanic root related to heeding and defending — the same root that eventually gives us "guard" and "warden."

warden

Germanic

From Anglo-Norman wardein, related to "guard" — a doublet of "guardian," both ultimately from the same Germanic root meaning to watch over.

warder

Middle English

From Middle English warder, wardere, perhaps in part continuing Old English weardere (“one who holds a country; inhabitant”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardārī (“guard, follower, watchman, lookout”), equivalent to ward + -er. Cognate with Dutch waarder (“inspector”), German Low German Wärder (“guard, watchman”), German Wärter (“guard, keeper, attendant”).

wardrobe

French

From Old Northern French warderobe, made of garder ("to keep, guard") plus robe ("garment") — literally a place to keep your robes safe.

wardroom

Origin

Simply ward + room — a room set aside for a "ward," an old term for a group of officers or guards.

ware

Old English

From Old English waru ("goods, merchandise"), rooted in a Proto-Germanic word meaning "attention" or "something valuable to guard" — the same root that gives us "ward" and "beware."

warehouse

Origin

A straightforward compound of ware ("goods") and house.

wares

Origin

The plural of ware ("goods for sale").

warfare

Origin

From war plus fare (in the old sense of "going, journeying") — literally "the business of waging war."

Warfield

Old English

From Old English wer (“weir”) + feld (“field”).

warhead

Origin

From war plus head, originally used to distinguish a live, explosive-carrying "war head" of a torpedo from an inert practice one.

warhol

Origin

Named after artist Andy Warhol, who famously predicted that everyone would be world-famous for fifteen minutes.

warhorse

Origin

From war + horse.

warlike

Origin

From war plus -like, "resembling or characteristic of war."

warlock

Old English

From Old English wǣrloga, literally "oath-breaker" or "traitor" — from wǣr ("pledge, covenant") and a word related to "lie." It came to mean a male sorcerer through the old belief that such men had broken their faith with God.

warlord

Origin

A direct compound of war and lord.

warm

Old English

From Old English wearm, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "warm," possibly related to an ancient word for "to burn."

warmer

Origin

Warm plus the agent suffix -er, "a thing that warms."

warming

Origin

From warm plus the -ing suffix.

warmly

Origin

Warm plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

warmness

Origin

From Middle English warmnesse, from Old English wearmnes (“warmness, warmth”), from Proto-West Germanic *warmnassī (“warmness, warmth”), equivalent to warm + -ness. Cognate with Scots warmnes (“warmness”), West Frisian waarmens (“warmness”), dialectal Dutch warmenesse, warmnis (“warmness”), German Low German Warmnis (“warmness”).

warmth

Origin

Warm plus the abstract-noun suffix -th, as in "depth" or "length."

warn

Old English

From Old English warnian ("to take heed, to warn"), from a Germanic root meaning "to be aware" or "give heed."

Warner

Origin

* English, Norman, and German surname, all corresponding to German Werner. Also see Warrener. * As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Murnáin (“descendant of Murnán”); see Murnane.

warp

Old English

From Old English wearp, originally referring to threads stretched lengthwise on a loom, from a Germanic root related to "throwing" or "casting."

warpath

Origin

From war plus path, originally describing the literal route taken by a group heading into armed conflict.

warped

Origin

From warp + -ed.

warping

Origin

From Middle English warpynge; equivalent to warp + -ing.

warplane

Origin

From war + plane.

warrant

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman warant, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to protect" or "to guard," related to "ward."

warranter

Origin

From warrant + -er.

warrantor

Origin

From warrant + -or.

warranty

Old French

From Anglo-Norman warantie, a variant of Old French guarantie — a close relative of both "warrant" and "guarantee."

warren

Germanic

From Anglo-Norman warenne, ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "to guard" or "protect" — originally referring to land set aside and protected for keeping game like rabbits.

warrigal

Origin

Borrowed from Dharug wuragal (“wild and undomesticated dingo”).

warring

Origin

From war plus -ing.

warrior

Old French

From Anglo-Norman werreur, ultimately from Old French guerroiier ("to fight"), related to the word "war."

Warsaw

Polish

The English name derives from the Polish Warszawa, ultimately traced back to an Old Polish personal or place name.

warship

Origin

A straightforward compound of war and ship, describing exactly what it is — a ship built for war.

wart

Old English

From Old English wearte, from a Proto-Germanic root also giving Dutch wrat and German Warze.

warthog

Origin

A compound of wart and hog, describing the wart-like facial growths on the animal.

wartime

Origin

A compound of war and time.

Warwick

Middle English

From Middle English Warwyk, from Old English Wǣringwīċ (literally “dwelling by the weir”), from wer (“weir”) + -ing (“of the”, used with masculine nouns) + wīċ (“dwelling place, village”).

wary

Origin

From the adjective ware ("aware, cautious") plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

wasabi

Japanese

Borrowed directly from the Japanese word 山葵 (wasabi).

wash

Old English

From Old English wascan ("to wash"), tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "wet" or "water" — the same root behind "water" itself.

washbasin

Origin

From wash + basin.

washbowl

Origin

From wash + bowl.