mid-14c., agent noun from win (v.). Adjectival winner-take-all attested from 1901.

"aware," mid-14c. (implied in wytindeliche (adv.)), present-participle adjective from wit (v.). Related: Wittingly.

mid-14c., "laborer, toiler, performer, doer," agent noun from work (v.). As a type of bee, 1747. As "one employed for a wage," 1848. Old English had wyrcend "worker, laborer."

mid-14c., from Old English Zefferus, from Latin Zephyrus (source also of French zéphire, Spanish zefiro, Italian zeffiro), from Greek Zephyros "the west wind" (sometimes personified as a god), probably related to zophos "the west, the dark region, darkness, gloom." Extended sense of "mild breeze" is c. 1600. Related: Zephyrean.