• IPA: /wɪn/

From Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan (compare Old English ġewinnan), from Proto-Germanic *winnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁-.

win (wins, present participle winning; simple past won, past participle won)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To conquer, defeat.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book IV:

     For and we doo bataille we two wyl fyghte with one knyȝt at ones
     and therfore yf ye wille fyghte ſoo we wille be redy at what houre ye wille aſſigne
     And yf ye wynne vs in bataille the lady ſhal haue her landes ageyne
     ye ſay wel ſayd ſir Vwayne
     therfor make yow redy ſo that ye be here to morne in the defence of the ladyes ryght

2. (transitive, intransitive) To reach some destination or object, despite difficulty or toil (now usually intransitive, with preposition or locative adverb).
   • c. 17th century, unknown author, The Baron of Brackley (traditional folk song)

     I well may gang out, love, but I'll never win home.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗, stanza 23:

     That euen in the Porch he him did win,
     And cleft his head aſunder to his chin

   • 1808 February 21, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC ↗:

     And when the stony path began,
     By which the naked peak they won,
     Up flew the snowy ptarmigan.

   • 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC ↗:

     “Has he nae friends?” said she, in a tearful voice.
     “That has he so!” cried Alan, “if we could but win to them!—friends and rich friends, beds to lie in, food to eat, doctors to see to him—and here he must tramp in the dubs and sleep in the heather like a beggarman.”

3. (transitive) To triumph or achieve victory in (a game, a war, etc.).
4. (transitive) To gain (a prize) by succeeding in competition or contest.

   to win the jackpot in a lottery;  to win a bottle of wine in a raffle

5. (transitive) To obtain (someone) by wooing; to make an ally or friend of (frequently with over).
   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC ↗:

     Thy virtue won me; with virtue preserve me.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:

     She is a woman; therefore to be won.

6. (intransitive) To achieve victory.

   Who would win in a fight between an octopus and a dolphin?

7. (intransitive) To have power, coercion or control.

   Ever since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Bostonians now run as "One Boston." The terrorists did not win.

8. (transitive) To obtain (something desired).

   The company hopes to win an order from the government worth over 5 million dollars.

9. (transitive) To cause a victory for someone.

   The success of the economic policies should win Mr. Smith the next elections.

   The policy success should win the elections for Mr. Smith.

10. (transitive, mining) To extract (ore, coal, etc.).
11. (transitive, informal) To defeat or surpass someone or something.

• French: gagner, vaincre
• German: gewinnen
• Italian: vincere, guadagnare
• Portuguese: vencer, ganhar
• Russian: побежда́ть
• Spanish: ganar, vencer

• Russian: выи́грывать

• French: conquérir
• German: gewinnen, erobern
• Italian: guadagnare, ottenere, conquistare
• Portuguese: ganhar, conquistar
• Russian: добива́ться

• French: gagner
• German: siegen, gewinnen
• Italian: vincere
• Portuguese: vencer, ganhar
• Russian: выи́грывать

From Middle English winn, winne, from Old English winn, from Proto-Germanic *winną, from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁-.

win (plural wins)

1. An individual victory.

   Antonyms: loss

   Our first win of the season put us in high spirits.

2. (slang) A feat carried out successfully; a victorious achievement.

   Antonyms: fail

3. (obsolete) Gain; profit; income.
4. (obsolete) Wealth; goods owned.

• French: gain, victoire
• German: Erfolg, Sieg, Einzelsieg
• Italian: vittoria
• Portuguese: vitória
• Russian: вы́игрыш

• Italian: traguardo, successo

• Italian: guadagno
• Portuguese: proveito, lucro, ganho

From Middle English wynne, winne, wunne, from Old English wynn, from Proto-West Germanic *wunnju, from Proto-Germanic *wunjō, from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁-.

Cognate with German Wonne, archaic Dutch wonne, Danish ynde, Icelandic yndi.

win

1. (Scotland) Pleasure; joy; delight.
2. Alternative form of wynn

From wind.

1. (transitive, Scotland) To dry by exposure to the wind.

win (plural wins)

1. (colloquial) A Winchester firearm.

1. (computing) Windows, an operating system family developed by Microsoft.

Diminutives.

1. A female given name.
2. A male given name.

Borrowing from Burmese ဝင်း

1. Surname.