Must vs Want - What's the difference?
must | want |
to do with certainty; (indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate)
The property of being stale or musty
Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty
Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually grapes
* Longfellow
A time during which male elephants exhibit increased levels of sexual activity and aggressiveness (also musth)
* 1936 , George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant'' essay in magazine ''New Writing
To wish for or to desire (something).
* , chapter=13
, title= * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
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* Dryden
To lack, not to have (something).
*, II.3.7:
* James Merrick
* Addison
(colloquially with verbal noun as object) To be in need of; to require (something).
* 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 2
(dated) To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
* Ben Jonson
* Alexander Pope
(countable) A desire, wish, longing.
(countable, often, followed by of) Lack, absence.
* , King Henry VI Part 2 , act 4, sc. 8:
* :
(uncountable) Poverty.
* Jonathan Swift
Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt.
* Paley
(UK, mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.
In transitive terms the difference between must and want
is that must is to make musty while want is to lack, not to have (something).As verbs the difference between must and want
is that must is to do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicatewant is to wish for or to desire (something).As nouns the difference between must and want
is that must is something that is mandatory or required while want is a desire, wish, longing.As a proper noun Want is
a personification of want.must
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) . More at .Verb
(head)- If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
- You picked one of two, and it wasn't the first: it must have been the second.
- The children must be asleep by now.
- You must arrive in class on time. — the requirement is an imperative
- This door handle must be rotated fully. — the requirement is a directive
- Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. (Bible, Acts 9:6)
Quotations
* 1936 , , More Poems , IX, lines 3-6 *: Forth I wander, forth I must , *: And drink of life again. *: Forth I must by hedgerow bowers *: To look at the leaves uncurled * 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit *: We must away ere break of day *: To seek the pale enchanted gold. * 1968 Fritz Leiber, Swords in the Mist *: Whereupon while one patched or napped, the other must stand guard against inquisitive two- and three-headed dragons and even an occasional monocephalic.Usage notes
* (sense) Compare with weaker auxiliary verb (should), indicating a strong probability of the predicate's execution. * (sense) Compare with weaker auxiliary verb (should), indicating mere intent for the predicate's execution; and stronger auxiliary verb (will), indicating that the negative consequence will be unusually severe. * The past tense of "must" is also "must"; however, this usage is almost always literary (see Fritz Leiber quotation above). The past sense is usually conveyed by (had to). It is possible to use (be bound to) for the past also. For this reason, (have to) and (be bound to) are also used as alternatives to (must) in the present and future. * The principal verb, if easily supplied, may be omitted. In modern usage this is mainly literary (see Housman and Tolkien quotations above). * (term) is unusual in its negation. (term) still expresses a definite certainty or requirement, with the predicate negated. (term), on the other hand, is negated in the usual manner. Compare: :: You must not' read that book. (''It '''is''' necessary that you '''not read that book. ) :: You need not' read that book. (''It '''is not necessary that you read that book. ) * The second person singular no longer adds "-est" (as it did in Old English).See also
*Synonyms
* imperativeAntonyms
* no-noEtymology 2
(etyl) must, most, from (etyl) mustumNoun
(en noun)- No fermenting must fills the deep vats.
External links
* (wikipedia "must")Etymology 3
(etyl) .Noun
- It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’.
Statistics
*want
English
Alternative forms
* waunt (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
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.}}
- The disposition, the manners, and the thoughts are all before it; where any of those are wanting' or imperfect, so much ' wants or is imperfect in the imitation of human life.
- he that hath skill to be a pilot wants' a ship; and he that could govern a commonwealth' wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage.
- Not what we wish, but what we want , / Oh, let thy grace supply!
- I observed that your whip wanted a lash to it.
- The mowing-machine always wanted oiling. Barnet turned it under Jacob's window, and it creaked—creaked, and rattled across the lawn and creaked again.
- You have a gift, sir (thank your education), / Will never let you want .
- For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find / What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind.
Usage notes
* This is a catenative verb. SeeSynonyms
* (desire) set one's heart on, wish for, would like * (lack) be without * (require) need, be in need ofDerived terms
* I want to know * want-away * wanted * want for * wanting *Noun
(poverty)- [H]eavens and honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.
- For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
- For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
- For want of a horse the rider was lost.
- For want of a rider the battle was lost.
- For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
- And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
- Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want .
- Habitual superfluities become actual wants .