Wynsum

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pleasing and agreeable in manner or appearance, with a gentle charm that makes others warm to the person
2. Describing someone or something that is attractive, delightful and easy to like in a gracious way
3. Having a pleasant, cheerful quality that wins people over through its gentle and agreeable nature

Etymology: Old English "wynsum" meant joyful, pleasant, or delightful. It was built from "wynn," meaning joy, and the suffix "-sum," which forms adjectives meaning "having a certain quality," as in "handsome" or "lonesome." The sense gradually narrowed toward being cheerful and attractive in manner, which is the sense of the modern "winsome." The spelling changed because Old English wrote the "w" sound with a special letter called wynn (ƿ), which was eventually replaced by "w" in later centuries. That replacement is why the word now looks like "winsome." It is easy to assume the word is related to "win," but it is not. "Win" comes from a separate Old English verb, "winnan," meaning to struggle or strive, so the resemblance is coincidental.