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Boon vs Wish - What's the difference?

boon | wish |

As nouns the difference between boon and wish

is that boon is (obsolete) a prayer; petition or boon can be the woody portion of flax, separated from the fiber as refuse matter by retting, braking, and scutching while wish is a desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.

As an adjective boon

is (obsolete) good; prosperous; as, "boon voyage".

As a verb wish is

(label) to desire; to want.

boon

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) A prayer; petition.
  • * :
  • For which to God he made so many an idle boon
  • (archaic) That which is asked or granted as a benefit or favor; a gift; a favour; benefaction; a grant; a present.
  • * :
  • Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above
  • * 1872 , (James De Mille), The Cryptogram :
  • I gave you life. Can you not return the boon by giving me death, my lord?
  • A good; a blessing or benefit; a great privilege; a thing to be thankful for.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.
  • An unpaid service due by a tenant to his lord.
  • Synonyms
    * blessing * benefit
    Antonyms
    * bane

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) boon, bone, from .

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) good; prosperous; as, "boon voyage"
  • kind; bountiful; benign
  • * Milton
  • Which Nature boon / Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain.
  • gay; merry; jovial; convivial
  • * Arbuthnot
  • a boon companion, loving his bottle
  • * Episode 16
  • --No, Mr Bloom repeated again, I wouldn't personally repose much trust in that boon companion of yours who contributes the humorous element, if I were in your shoes.
    Quotations
    * Which ... Nature boon Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain — * A boon companion, loving his bottle —

    Etymology 3

    From Gaelic and Irish via Scots.

    Noun

    (-)
  • The woody portion of flax, separated from the fiber as refuse matter by retting, braking, and scutching.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    wish

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • a desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen
  • an expression of such a desire etc.
  • the process of expressing or thinking about such a desire etc. (often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power(s)
  • the thing desired or longed for
  • Your dearest wish will come true.
  • * 1901 , , (w, The Monkey's Paw)
  • "I suppose all old soldiers are the same," said Mrs White. "The idea of our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?" / "Might drop on his head from the sky," said the frivolous Herbert.
  • (Sussex) a water meadow.
  • Usage notes

    * Collocates with make for the common expression make a wish . See

    Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the noun "wish") * death wish * best wishes * good wishes * make a wish * wishbone * wishful * wish list/wishlist/wish-list * your wish is my command

    See also

    * precatory * velleity

    Verb

    (es)
  • (label) To desire; to want.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • I would not wish / Any companion in the world but you.
  • *
  • , passage=Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish', I ' wish he’d go away …}}
  • To hope (for a particular outcome).
  • * (John Arbuthnot) (1667-1735)
  • This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for.
  • * 1901 , , (w, The Monkey's Paw)
  • Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact," he said slowly. "It seems to me I've got all I want."
  • To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • I would not wish them to a fairer death.
  • * Bible, (Psalms) xl. 14
  • Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil.
  • To request or desire to do an activity.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}
  • (label) To recommend; to seek confidence or favour on behalf of.
  • * (Ben Jonson)
  • I was wished to your worship by a gentleman.

    Usage notes

    * In sense 3, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the verb "wish") * as you wish * half wish * I wish * unwish * well-wisher * wisher * you wish