wound means an injury, such as a cut, stab, or tear, to a (usually external) part of the body. It carries an Arena rating of 1671, earned across 16 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wound ranks #178 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,056 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #2,601 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #3,268 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words.
wound is pronounced /ˈwuːnd/.
Why “wound” is a great word
An injury, typically a break in the skin or flesh, or a hurt to one's feelings or reputation. From Middle English *wund* (noun) and *wunden* (verb), from Old English *wund* and *wundian*, from Proto-Germanic *wundō* (noun) and *wundōną* (verb), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *wen-* ('to strive, wish, love'); the noun's first known use is before the 12th century. Unlike 'injury,' a broad, clinical category of damage, or 'trauma,' a term of severe physical or psychological shock, a wound preserves the intimacy of a breach. It is the clean line of a knife, the slow throb of a graze, the invisible lesion that aches long after the offense—the body’s and the heart’s testament to having been touched, however cruelly, by the world.
Etymology
Noun from Middle English wund, from Old English wund, from Proto-West Germanic *wundu, from Proto-Germanic *wundō (“wound”), from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to strive, toil, win”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wuunde (“wound”), Cimbrian bunta (“wound”), Dutch wond, wonde (“wound”), German Wunde (“wonde”), Luxembourgish Wonn (“wound”), Yiddish וווּנד (vund, “wound”), Icelandic und (“wound”), Gothic *𐍅𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰 (*wunda, “wound”) (whence 𐍅𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍆𐌽𐌹 (wundufni, “disease, plague”)); also Old Armenian վանդեմ (vandem, “to destroy; to catch a disease”). Verb from Middle English wunden, from Old English wundian, from Proto-Germanic *wundōną (“to wound”). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian buntan (“to wound”), Dutch wonden (“to wound”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍉𐌽 (gawundōn, “to wound”).
noun
- An injury, such as a cut, stab, or tear, to a (usually external) part of the body.e.g.“The visitors were without Wayne Rooney after he suffered a head wound in training, which also keeps him out of England's World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.” — 2013 September 1, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1-0 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
- A hurt to a person's feelings, reputation, prospects, etc.e.g.“It took a long time to get over the wound of that insult.”
- An injury to a person by which the skin is divided or its continuity broken.
verb
- To hurt or injure (someone) by cutting, piercing, or tearing the skin.e.g.“The police officer wounded the suspect during the fight that ensued.”
- To hurt (a person's feelings).e.g.“The actor's pride was wounded when the leading role went to his rival.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).