wish
/ˈwɪʃ/noun, verb
wish is spelled W-I-S-H: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 151 times per million words in written English, the 679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wish means “A desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wish is wishes.
How many letters and syllables are in wish?
| Letters | 4: W-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 151 times per million words; the 679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is wish?
Wish appears 151 times per million words in written English, the 679th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wish?
- /ˈwɪʃ/
- [ˈwɪʃ]
Wish has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wish.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-wish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with wish
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: whish (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of wish
- wishes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- wishing participle, present
- wished participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.
It is my wish that the bequest (should) be given to an almshouse.
- 2
An expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power.
make a wish
- 3
The thing desired or longed for.
My dearest wish is to see them happily married.
- 4
A water meadow.
verb
- 1
To desire; to want.
I'll come tomorrow, if you wish (it).
- 2
archaicTo hope (+ object clause with may or in present subjunctive).
She hears that Miss Bigg is to be married in a fortnight. I wish it may be so.
- 3
To hope (for a particular outcome), even if that outcome is unlikely to occur or cannot occur.
I wish I could go back in time and teach myself what I know now.
- 4
To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).
We wish you a merry Christmas.
- 5
To request or desire to do an activity.
Anyone who wishes to may leave now.
- 6
To recommend; to seek confidence or favour on behalf of.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | souhait , souhaiter, espérer |
| German | Wunsch , wünschen |
| Portuguese | desejo, pedido , desejar , desejar a |
| Spanish | deseo, gana , desear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wish come from?
From Middle English wisshen, wischen, wüschen, from Old English wȳsċan (“to wish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunskijan, from Proto-Germanic *wunskijaną (“to wish”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to wish, love”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).