Origin and history of wish

Middle English wishen, from Old English wyscan "feel intense longing, cherish a desire" for something, obtainable or not, from Proto-Germanic *wunsk-, which is reconstructed to be from PIE root *wen- (1) "to desire, strive for."

Related: Wished; wisher; wishing. Wishing well as "enchanted water hole" is attested by 1819. Germanic cognates include Old Norse œskja, Danish ønske, Swedish önska, Middle Dutch wonscen, Dutch wensen, Old High German wunsken, German wunschen "to wish."

early 14c., "act of wishing, mental action of yearning or desiring," also "what one wishes for;" from wish (v.). Cognate with Old Norse osk, Middle Dutch wonsc, Dutch wens, Old High German wunsc, German Wunsch "a wish."

Wish-book "mail-order catalogue" is by 1927 (in reference to "30 years ago"); wish-list is by 1972. Wish fulfillment (1901) translates German wunscherfüllung (Freud, "Die Traumdeutung," 1900).

We recall a time 30 years ago when, living on the Dakota prairies far from the semblance of a town, a visit to a store was a rare occasion. But the absence of a store was compensated, in a measure, by the presence of the "wish book". Some folks called it the mail order house catalogue, but the other name always seemed more appropriate. Of a winter evening one could shop and shop as he turned the pages of that entrancing book and found there article after article which was alluringly described and which virtually made one's fingers itch. [Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian, March 29, 1927]