wish
n. countablen. a strong feeling that you want something to happen or be true. You often make a wish on your birthday or when you see a shooting star.
n. a desire or hope for something to happen; an expression of such a desire. Often used to describe a specific request or a hope for another person's well-being.
She made a wish before blowing out the candles.
The manager granted his wish to work from home two days a week to help with childcare.
Despite her personal wish for a quiet retirement, she felt a moral obligation to continue her advocacy work for another decade.
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”). Cognate with Scots wis (“to wish”), Saterland Frisian wonskje (“to wish”), West Frisian winskje (“to wish”), Dutch wensen (“to wish”), German wünschen (“to wish”), Luxembourgish wënschen (“to wish”), Yiddish ווינטשן (vintshn, “to wish”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål ønske (“to wish”), Faroese ynskja (“to wish, to desire”), Icelandic æskja, óska (“to wish”), Norwegian Nynorsk ønskja, ønskje, ønska, ønske, ynskja, ynskje (“to wish, to desire”), Swedish önska (“to wish”). Via PIE cognate with Latin Venus, veneror (“venerate, honour, love”), English wonder.
Often followed by the preposition 'for' or a 'that' clause.
I have a wish of goingI have a wish to goWhen followed by an action, the noun takes a to-infinitive rather than 'of' + gerund.