An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wunsch

by Friedrich Kluge

Wunsch, masculine, ‘wish, desire,’ from Middle High German wunsch, Old High German wunsc, masculine, ‘wish, desire’ (Middle High German also ‘capacity for doing something extraordinary’); compare Dutch wensch, Old Icelandic ósk (for Gothic *wunska), ‘wish.’ Hence the derivative wünschen, ‘to wish, desire, long for,’ Middle High German wünschen, Old High German wunsken, ‘to wish’; compare Dutch wenschen, Anglo-Saxon wŷsčęan, English to wish. Sanscrit vâñchâ (for *vânskâ), ‘wish’ (with the root vâñch, ‘to wish’), is regarded as equivalent to Teutonic wunskó, ‘wish.’ The skâ derivative is based on the root wen, ‘to be pleased,’ which appears in wohnen.