win

Middle English winnen “to strive, struggle, obtain by exertion, earn with labor, gain, triumph,” going back to Old English winnan “to labor, strive,” going back to a Germanic verb base *wenu̯- (whence Old Saxon winnan “to struggle, suffer, acquire,” Old High German, “to labor, struggle, rage,” Old Norse vinna “to labor, suffer, gain,” Gothic winnan “to suffer”); akin to Sanskrit vanoti “(s/he) demands, strives for, obtains,” vanate “(s/he) shall obtain,” Avestan vanaiti “(s/he) defeats” ◆According to Rix, et al., Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (Wiesbaden, 1998), Indo-European *u̯en-, the source of these verbs is distinct from *u̯enH-, the source of Sanskrit vanate “(s/he) likes, takes pleasure in,” Latin venus “physical desire, qualities exciting desire, charm” (see Venus).

First Known Use: before 12th century