wont

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See also:won'tandwo'n't

English

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WOTD – 31 May 2017

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Origin uncertain; apparently a conflation ofwone(“custom,habit,practice”)andwont(participleadjective,below). CompareGerman Low GermanGewohnte(“custom, habit”),Dutchgewoonte,Swedishvan.Likely related towone,wonder,wean,andwin,ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*wenh₁-(“to wish for, strive for, pursue; to succeed, win”);more there.

(Canthis(+)etymology besourced?)

Thisetymologyis incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

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wont(usuallyuncountable,pluralwonts)

  1. (archaic)One'shabitualway of doing things;custom,habit,practice.
    Synonyms:wone,habit,routine,ritual
    He awoke at the crack of dawn, as was hiswont.
    • 1644,John Milton,Of Education,To MasterSamuel Hartlib‎[2],[London: Printed for Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson],→OCLC;republished inThe Works of John Milton, Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous. Now More Correctly Printed from the Originals, than in any Former Edition, and Many Passages Restored, which have been hitherto Omitted. To which is Prefixed, an Account of His Life and Writings[byThomas Birch].In Two Volumes,volume I, London: Printed forA[ndrew]Millar,in theStrand,1753,→OCLC,page147:
      [T]hey [Spartan youth] are by a ſudden alarum or watch-word, to be called out to their military motions, under ſky or covert, according to the ſeaſon, as was the Romanwont;[…]
    • 1885,Richard F. Burton,The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night,Night 563:
      […]when Sindbad the Seaman had related the history of what befel him in his sixth voyage, and all the company had dispersed, Sindbad the Landsman went home and slept as ofwont.
    • 1915,The Practical Dental Journal,volume15,San Antonio, Tx.: Ferguson Dental Supply Co.,→OCLC,page100:
      Such conditions, having been the common practice for years, and, existing in a less degree in some localities to the present time, afford a tangible reason for a form of correlation that is more universal than it is thewontof the profession to admit; namely, that with the laity, dentistry and "the pulling of teeth," and the dentist and "the tooth puller," are very closely related subjects[…]
    • 1920,James Brown Scott,“The Federal Convention: An International Conference”, inThe United States of America: A Study in International Organization(Publications of theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace,Division of International Law), New York, N.Y.:Oxford University Press,→OCLC,page149:
      As was also thewontof international conferences, a delegate from Pennsylvania, in this instance James Wilson, proposed the appointment of a secretary and nominatedWilliam Temple Franklin,whose selection would have been agreeable to the authorities of Pennsylvania, inasmuch as he was the grandson of its venerable chief executive.
    • 2001,Orhan Pamuk;Erdağ M. Göknar,transl., “I am Called Black”, inMy Name Is Red,London:Faber and Faber,→ISBN;paperback edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2002,→ISBN,page 62:
      With a simple-minded desire, and to rid my mind of this irrepressible urge, I retired to a corner of the room, as was mywont,but after a while I realized I couldn't jack off—proof well enough that I'd fallen in love again after twelve years!
Translations
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Etymology 2

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FromMiddle Englishwont,iwoned,fromOld Englishġewunod,pastparticipleofġewunian.

Adjective

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wont(notcomparable)

  1. Accustomedor used (toorwitha thing), accustomed orapt(todo something).
    He iswontto complain loudly about his job.
    • 1556,Anthoni de Adamo[Agostino Mainardi],“The Examinacion of the Kyrie Eleeson and of the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, and how that Many Praiers after the Gloria in Excelsis, be Wicked, and that the Epistle and Gospell, and Generally the Whole Worde of God in the Masse, are Vnworthely and Euell Fauoredly Handled”, inAn Anatomi, that is to Say a Parting in Peeces of the Mass. Which Discouereth the Horrible Errors, and the Infinit Abuses Vnknowen to the People, aswel of the Mass as of the Mass Book, very Profitable, yea Most Necessary for al Christian People. With a Sermon of the Sacrament of Thankesgyuyng in the End, whiche Declareth whether Christ be Bodyly in the Sacrament or Not,[Strasbourg]:[Printed by the heirs of W. Köpfel],→OCLC,page19:
      This is theſuteltieof Satan, who vnder the shew of godly matters,deceaueththevnaduyſed,as we arewontto ſay, that in the honye lyeth hidden the poiſon.
    • c.1591,William Shakespeare,“The Tragedy of Richard the Third: With the Landing of Earle Richmond, and the Battell at Bosworth Field”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies,London: Printed byIsaac Iaggard,andEd[ward] Blount,published1623,→OCLC,act V, scene iii,page201:
      […]I haue not that Alacrity of Spirit, / Nor cheere of Minde that I waswontto haue.
    • 1751,[Thomas Gray],An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church-yard,London: Printed forR[obert] DodsleyinPall-Mall;and sold byM[ary] CooperinPater-noster-Row,→OCLC;republished as “An Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard”, inA Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands,volume IV, 2nd edition, London: Printed by J. Hughs, for R[obert] andJ[ames] Dodsley,at Tully's-Head in Pall-Mall, 1758,→OCLC,page 5:
      On ſome fond breaſt the parting ſoul relies, / Some pious drops the cloſing eye requires; / Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries, / Ev'n in our Aſhes live theirwontedFires.
    • 1843April,Thomas Carlyle,“The Abbot’s Ways”, inPast and Present,book II (The Ancient Monk), London:Chapman & Hall,→OCLC,page83:
      He could read English Manuscripts very elegantly,elegantissime:he waswontto preach to the people in the English tongue, though according to the dialect of Norfolk, where he had been brought up;[…]
    • 2017June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, inthe Guardian‎[3]:
      But while Katy Perry similarly threw herself into the spirit of the event – crowdsurfing, dancing with a security guard, charming the audience – her peculiar combination of newfound political conscience and longstanding predisposition to DayGlo cartoonishness was simultaneously intriguing and baffling, as a woman delivering between-song speeches about the necessity of taking back power surrounded by dancers dressed as flowers and giant pom-poms covered in fluorescent fur was perhapswontto be.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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FromMiddle Englishwonten(“to accustom”),fromwont(adjective).See above.

Verb

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wont(third-person singular simple presentwonts,present participlewonting,simple past and past participlewonted)

  1. (transitive,archaic)To make (someone) used to; toaccustom.
    • 1830,[Joseph Plumb Martin], “Campaign of 1780”,inA Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier; Interspersed with Anecdotes of Incidents that Occurred within His Own Observation,Hallowell, Me.: Printed by Glazier, Masters & Co. No. 1, Kennebec-Row,→OCLC,page141:
      I have heard it remarked by the old farmers, that when beasts are first transferred from one place to another, that if they keep them without food for two or three days, it will go far towardswontingthem to their new situation.
  2. (intransitive,archaic)To beaccustomed(to something), to be in thehabit(of doing something).
Translations
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References

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  1. ^Jespersen, Otto(1909)A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles(Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎[1],volumes I: Sounds and Spellings,London:George Allen & Unwin,published1961,§ 11.66,page334.

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromOld Englishwand,wond,fromProto-Germanic*wanduz.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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wont(pluralwontes)

  1. mole(Talpa europea)
    Synonyms:moldewarpe,molle

Descendants

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  • English:want(dialectal)
  • Scots:want

References

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