Wünsch

Wünsch is a German term that can refer to a verb form and to a surname, depending on context. In standard German, the infinitive is wünschen, meaning to wish. The form wünsch appears mainly as a stem in conjugation and, in the imperative mood for the informal singular, as Wünsch! meaning “Wish!” For the present tense, other forms use an umlaut: ich wünsche, du wünschst, er währt? Correction: er wünscht. The noun corresponding to the concept of a desire is Wunsch (without umlaut), which is a separate word. Thus, wünsch by itself is not a common standalone noun in ordinary text, but it appears as part of grammatical forms or, in imperative phrases, as a direct command.

Wünsch is also a surname found in German-speaking regions. It is typically written with the umlaut (Wünsch), and in contexts where diacritics are unavailable, it may appear as Wuensch. Like many German surnames, its exact origin can vary, often linked to historical nicknames or occupational or descriptive roots, and it has spread beyond Germany through migration.

In usage and orthography, it is important to distinguish Wünsch (the surname or imperative/inflected form) from Wunsch (the noun for “wish”) and from wünschen (the verb in other conjugations). The three forms share a common root related to wishing or desire, but they occupy different grammatical and lexical categories in German.