Went
/wɛnt/noun
Past tense of go.
Did you know?Went is a classic case of suppletion: English replaced the old past tense of go with a form originally tied to a different verb, meaning 'to turn, yield, or wind.'
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*wenh₁-
“to desire, strive for, or turn toward”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*wandijaną
“to turn, wind, or twist”
Old English
Old English
wendan
“to turn, direct, or change course”
Middle English
English
wente
“past tense of wend; later also used as the past tense of go”
Modern English
English
went
“past tense of go”