won

¹ American  

[wuhn] / wʌn /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of win.

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won ² American  

[wuhn, woon, wohn] / wʌn, wʊn, woʊn /

verb (used without object)

Archaic.

wonned, wonning

1. to dwell; abide; stay.

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won ³ American  

[won] / wɒn /

noun

plural

won

1. a paper money and monetary unit of North and South Korea, equal to 100 chon.

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won ¹ British  

/ wɒn /

noun

1. the standard monetary unit of North Korea, divided into 100 chon

2. the standard monetary unit of South Korea, divided into 100 chon

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won ² British  

/ wʌn /

verb

1. the past tense of win 1

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won ³ British  

/ wʊn, wəʊn, wʌn /

verb

1. archaic (intr) to live or dwell

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Etymology

Origin of won²

before 900; Middle English wonen, Old English wunian; cognate with German wohnen; wont

Origin of won³

First recorded in 1915–20; from Korean wǒn, Korean pronunciation of the Japanese character pronounced as en, yen “coin, round coin, yen,” from Middle Chinese wian “round, circular,” equivalent to Chinese yuán yuan

Example Sentences

“They are a little bit ahead of us, in the fact that they’ve won two national championships. But that’s where we want to be. We want to be that level of a program.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

The Gunners have not won the Premier League for 22 years and have finished in second place for three successive seasons.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

He dropped out early and John McCain won the GOP presidential nomination, before losing to Barack Obama that November.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026

South Carolina has won three championships in the last eight non-COVID-19 seasons.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

Harry Kane had been the captain of the team during the 2018 World Cup and won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s highest scorer.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti