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Want vs Warrant - What's the difference?

want | warrant |

In transitive terms the difference between want and warrant

is that want is to lack, not to have (something) while warrant is to justify; to give grounds for.

As a proper noun Want

is a personification of want.

want

English

Alternative forms

* waunt (obsolete)

Verb

(en verb)
  • To wish for or to desire (something).
  • * , chapter=13
  • , title= 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.}}
  • * {{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.}}
  • * Dryden
  • 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.
  • To lack, not to have (something).
  • *, II.3.7:
  • 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.
  • * James Merrick
  • Not what we wish, but what we want , / Oh, let thy grace supply!
  • * Addison
  • I observed that your whip wanted a lash to it.
  • (colloquially with verbal noun as object) To be in need of; to require (something).
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 2
  • 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.
  • (dated) To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
  • * Ben Jonson
  • You have a gift, sir (thank your education), / Will never let you want .
  • * Alexander Pope
  • 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. See

    Synonyms

    * (desire) set one's heart on, wish for, would like * (lack) be without * (require) need, be in need of

    Derived terms

    * I want to know * want-away * wanted * want for * wanting *

    Noun

    (poverty)
  • (countable) A desire, wish, longing.
  • (countable, often, followed by of) Lack, absence.
  • * , King Henry VI Part 2 , act 4, sc. 8:
  • [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.
  • (uncountable) Poverty.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want .
  • Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt.
  • * Paley
  • Habitual superfluities become actual wants .
  • (UK, mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.
  • Derived terms

    * want ad

    References

    Statistics

    *

    warrant

    English

    Alternative forms

    * warraunt (obsolete)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), (warant), (warand) ( = (etyl) guarant > modern (garant)), present participle of a Romance verb from (etyl) *(term).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (label) A protector or defender.
  • *:
  • *:And whanne I sawe her makynge suche dole / I asked her who slewe her lorde ¶ Syre she said the falsest knyght of the world now lyuyng/ and his name is sir Breuse saunce pyte / thenne for pyte I made the damoysel to lepe on her palfroy / and I promysed her to be her waraunt / and to helpe her to entyere her lord
  • Authorization or certification; sanction, as given by a superior.
  • Something that provides assurance or confirmation; a guarantee or proof: a warrant of authenticity; a warrant for success.
  • *Garry Wills:
  • *:He almost gives his failings as a warrant for his greatness.
  • An order that serves as authorization, especially: A voucher authorizing payment or receipt of money.
  • (label) A judicial writ authorizing an officer to make a search, seizure, or arrest or to execute a judgment.
  • :
  • A warrant officer.
  • #A certificate of appointment given to a warrant officer.
  • (label) An option, usually with a term at issue greater than a year, usually issued together with another security, to buy other securities of the issuer.
  • (label) A Warrant of Fitness; a document certifying that a motor vehicle meets certain standards of safety and mechanical soundness.
  • Derived terms
    * warrant card * death warrant

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), (warantir), (warandir) ( = (etyl) guarantir > modern (garantir)), a Romance formation from the noun, Etymology 1, above.

    Verb

  • To protect, keep safe (from danger).
  • *, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.44:
  • *:all honest meanes for a man to warrant himselfe from evils are not onely tolerable, but commendable.
  • (label) To guarantee (something) to be (of a specified quality, value etc.).
  • *1851 , Herman Melville, Moby-Dick :
  • *:His pure tight skin was an excellent fit; and closely wrapped up in it, and embalmed with inner health and strength, like a revivified Egyptian, this Starbuck seemed prepared to endure for long ages to come, and to endure always, as now; for be it Polar snow or torrid sun, like a patent chronometer, his interior vitality was warranted to do well in all climates.
  • *
  • *:Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;.
  • (label) To guarantee as being true; (colloquially) to believe strongly.
  • :
  • To give (someone) a guarantee or assurance (of something); also, with double object, to guarantee (someone something).
  • *, II.ii.1.1:
  • *:Crato, in a consultation of his for a noble patient, tells him plainly, that if his highness will keep but a good diet, he will warrant him his former health.
  • (label) To authorize; to give (someone) warrant or sanction (to do something).
  • :
  • (label) To justify; to give grounds for.
  • :