Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Wish

Wish , intransitive verb

[Old English wischen, weschen, wuschen, Anglo-Saxon w{not transcribed}scan; akin to Dutch wenschen, German wunschen, Icelandic aeskja, Danish onske, Swedish onska; from Anglo-Saxon w{not transcribed}sc a wish; akin to OD. & German wunsch, Old High German wunsc, Icelandic {not transcribed}sk, Sanskrit vā{not transcribed}chā a wish, vā{not transcribed}ch to wish; also to Sanskrit van to like, to wish. {not transcribed}. See Winsome, Win, transitive verb, and compare Wistful.]

1.
To have a desire or yearning; to long; to hanker.
They cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. — Acts xxvii. 29
This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for. — Arbuthnot

Wish , transitive verb

1.
To desire; to long for; to hanker after; to have a mind or disposition toward.
I would not wish Any companion in the world but you. — Shakespeare
I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. — 3. John 2
2.
To frame or express desires concerning; to invoke in favor of, or against, any one; to attribute, or cal down, in desire; to invoke; to imprecate.
I would not wish them to a fairer death. — Shakespeare
I wish it may not prove some ominous foretoken of misfortune to have met with such a miser as I am. — Sir P. Sidney
Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil. — Bible (KJV) - Psalm xl. 14
3.
To recommend; to seek confidence or favor in behalf of. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
I would be glad to thrive, sir, And I was wished to your worship by a gentleman. — B. Jonson

Wish , noun

1.
Desire; eager desire; longing.
Behold, I am according to thy wish in God a stead. — Job xxxiii. 6
2.
Expression of desire; request; petition; hence, invocation or imprecation.
Blistered be thy tongue for such a wish. — Shakespeare
3.
A thing desired; an object of desire.
Will he, wise, let loose at once his ire... To give his enemies their wish! — Milton