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▪ I. wean, n. Sc. and dial.|win, wen| Also 9 ween, wain, wane. [A contraction of wee ane: (see wee a. and one), the full form still appearing in the first group of quotations. In the north-eastern Sc. counties the equivalent little ane has similarly given littlan, littlen.] A young child. α1692[see wee a.]. 1721Ramsay Poems I. Gloss. 397 Wean, or wee ane, a Child. 1755Johnson s.v. Wee, In Scotland it denotes small or little; as wee ane, a little one, or child. 1768Ross Helenore 6 The name the wean [1789 weeane] gat, was Helenore. a1774Fergusson Hallow-Fair viii, Than there's sic yellowchin and din, Wi' wives and wee-anes gablin. β1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. ii. iii, When Bessy Freetock's chuffy-cheeked We'an To a Fairy turn'd. 1728― Anacreontic on Love 8 A poor young Wean. 1786Burns Inventory 52 Wi' weans I'm mair than weel contented, Heav'n sent me ane mae than I wanted! 1789― To Dr. Blacklock 52 To make a happy fire-side clime To weans and wife, That's the true pathos and sublime Of human life. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. iv, There was my daughter's wean, little Eppie Daidle. 1822Galt Provost xxiv, The major part were sailors' wives and weans. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss., Weens, children. Little ones. ‘How are the weens?’ 1826J. Wilson Noctes Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 175 Returnin back hame, the wife and weans were a' at the door. 1841Barham Ingol. Leg., Nell Cook end, So bless the Queen and her Royal Weans. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iii. 927, I being but a yearling wean. 1887P. M'Neill Blawearie 85 Here comes that great grumpus crying like a wane once more. 1900Century Mag. Feb. 601/2 But poor Shamus he had a wife an' a congregation of wains on his han's. ▪ II. wean, v.|wiːn| Forms: 1 wenian, 4–6 wene, 4–7 wain(e, wane, 5–7 wayn(e, weyn(e, 6 ween, 6–7 wein(e, weane, 6– wean. [OE. węnian to accustom (once only, to wean), corresponding to OFris. wennia, OS. wennian (MLG., MDu., mod.Du. wennen), OHG. wennen (MHG. wenen, mod.G. -wöhnen), ON. venja (Sw. vänja, Da. vænne):—OTeut. *wanjan, f. *wano- accustomed (ON. van-r); cognate with ON. vane wk. masc., custom, habit. For the Teut. root *wan-: *wun-, to be accustomed, to dwell, see wane n.2, wone n.2, wont. The OE. węnian occurs very frequently in the sense ‘to accustom’, but this use is not illustrated here, as it did not survive into ME. The sense ‘to wean (a child)’ was ordinarily expressed in OE. by áwęnian (cf. G. entwöhnen), and occasionally by ᵹewęnian.] 1. trans. To accustom (a child or young animal) to the loss of its mother's milk; to cause to cease to be suckled. a. with obj. a child.
c960æthelwold Bened. Rule vii. 22 Aᵹyld þu me, drihten, mid biternesse lean, swa swa moder deþ hyre bearne, þonne hio hit fram hire breosta ᵹesoce weneþ. 13..Hampole Psalter cxxx. 4 As a childe þat has nede to be on his modur kne and fostird with hur mylke, perisch if he be wenyd [earlier MS. spaned] & takyn fro mylke. 1382Wyclif Hos. i. 8 And she wenyde hir [Vulg. et ablactavit eam] that was With outen mercye. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. vi. (Tollem. MS.), The childe is propirly clepid ‘puer’, when he is wained from milke and departid from þe breste. c1425Cursor M. 3018 (Trin.) Whenne he was wened [earlier texts spaned] fro þe pappe. c1440Jacob's Well 231 Whan þe modyr wanyth here child, sche wetyth here tetys wyth sum byttere thyng. c1440Promp. Parv. 522/1 Wene chylder fro sokynge, ablacto, elacto. c1450Mirk's Festial 16 Then aftyr, when scho was wened, þay broght hur to þe tempull. 1530Palsgr. 770/2, I wayne a chylde from soukyng, Je seure. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 106/1 Before the child that is borne be waned. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 24 'Tis since the Earth-quake now eleuen yeares, And she was wean'd. 1634T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. xxiv. xxiv. (1678) 554 If the child be weak, sickly, or feeble, he ought not to be weaned. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 526 Untill shee be wayned, which must be at three yeers end, shee shall remaine with you in her fathers house. 1652Culpepper Eng. Phys. 178 It is much used to dry up the Milk in Womens breasts when they have weyned their children. 1789Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 187 As soon as they perceive their strength and appetite begin to fail, they ought immediately to wean the child. 1888M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. iii, His wife would return to him as soon as Lady Castle-Connell's daughter was weaned. absol.1823Byron Juan xii. xxi, Unless a man can calculate his means Of feeding brats the moment his wife weans. b. with obj. a young animal.
1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 34 Reynart..said thus..Neuertheles yet was I vnto the tyme that I was wened fro the tete, one [etc.]. 1485in Descr. Catal. Anc. Deeds (1890) I. 359 William and Agnes to have the calves of them and thei to be weynyd at the age of x. wekes. 1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §39 It is tyme to wayne theyr lambes, whanne they be .xvi. wekes old. Ibid. §66 If thou waine thy calues with hey it wyl make them haue great belyes. 1575Fleming Virg. Bucol. i. 2 Our Lambs new weined from y⊇ dam. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 250. 1600 Surflet Country Farm i. v. 23 Adding to the end of these great houses a little one, to keepe calues in of both kindes, which you haue wained. 1759R. Brown Compleat Farmer 22 The best time for weaning calves is from January to May. 1846Baxter's Libr. Pract. Agric. II. 193 The meal or flour mixed with milk..is excellent food for weaning calves. 1908S. Weyman Wild Geese xviii. 282 The low of a cow whose calf was being weaned. c. in figurative context.
1571Campion Hist. Irel. ii. x. (1633) 134 No doubt the name and reputation thereof would have bin a spurre to these erections, as nurses for babes to suck in, till they might repaire thither [sc. to the University] to be wained. 1584Lyly Campaspe iii. iv. 121 Reason [must] weane what appetite noursed. 1592tr. Junius on Rev. xii. 1 Vntil that time wherin this Church were as it were weyned & taken away from the breast or milk of her mother. 1866Kingsley Herew. xiv, I put my love out to nurse, instead of weaning it. d. transf.
1615J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. iv. 53 As Wormewood, rubbed upon the nipple of a Nurses Teate, weanes the childe. 1618W. Lawson New Orch. & Gard. xii. (1623) 41 The Tree ouer-loden with fruit, and wanting sap to feed all she hath brought forth, will waine all she cannot feed, like a woman bringing forth moe children at once then she hath teats. Ibid. xv. 51. 2. fig. To detach or alienate (a person, his desires or affections) from some accustomed object of pursuit or enjoyment; to reconcile by degrees to the privation of something.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 81 b, By obedyence they were wayned from this worlde. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. (1586) iii. 157 If they thinke them fit to enter into religion, the mother, who ought to haue cheefe charge of them, must seeke to waine them from all worldlie vanities. 1596Drayton Legends, Cromwell 187 When first the wealthy Netherlands me trayn'd, In wise Commerce..And from my Countrie carefully me wayn'd. 1607T. Walkington Optic Glass B 7 b, Hee must wisely defeate, and waine his appetite of all such dainty morsels. 1608Merry Devil Edmonton ii. iii. 22 You are enioynd to waine your friendship from mee. 1616B. Jonson Every Man in H. i. i, How happie, yet, should I esteeme my selfe, Could I (by any practise) weane the boy From one vaine course of studie, he affects. 1670T. Brooks London's Lament. 192 Luther was a man weaned from the world; and therefore when honours, preferments, and riches were offered to him, he despised them. 1741Berkeley Let. Wks. 1871 IV. 266 A long continuance of ill health has weaned me from the world. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. lxxxvi, He endeavoured to wean his eyes from the fatal object. 1836Dickens Sk. Boz, Sentiment, I trust the plan I have devised will be effectual in weaning my daughter from this absurd idea. 1837Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. (1857) I. 226 Mankind cannot be weaned from the opinion. 1856Merivale Rom. Emp. xxxiii. (1865) IV. 64 Already men's minds were becoming weaned from positive belief in the concrete divinities of Olympus. 1876Bridges Growth of Love xxxv, Few there be are wean'd from earthly love. 1907C. S. Parker Sir J. Graham I. i. 4 He..strove with some success to wean his tenantry from thriftless habits. absol.1850Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. viii. 108 The consequences of sin are meant to wean from sin. b. with away.
1891F. H. Williams Âtman v. 270, I deliberately planned to wean you away from Margaret. 1913Woodrow Wilson New Freedom ix. 203 If they refuse to be weaned away from their independence they cannot continue to enjoy the benefits extended to them. c. refl.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. iv. 17 And I the rather waine me from dispaire For loue of Edwards Off-spring in my wombe. c1645Howell Lett. i. §1. xlii, Before I wean my self from Italy, a word or two touching the genius of the Nation. 1711Steele Spect. No. 27 ⁋2 Let us not stand upon a Formal taking of Leave, but wean our selves from them [sc. the allurements of the world], while we are in the midst of them. 1725Bolingbroke Let. to Swift 24 July, If your heart tells you nothing, say nothing, that I may take the hint, and wean myself from you by degrees. 1874Green Short Hist. iii. §4. 131 A love of secular learning from which Edmund [Rich] found it hard to wean himself. d. intr. for refl.
c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1885) I. 93 While she was weaning from the friends and places she had so long conversed in. 1827Hood Hero & L. vi, Leander, weaning from sweet Hero's side, Must leave a widow where he found a bride. †3. To dissuade (whether successfully or not).
1607Scholast. Disc. agst. Antichrist i. iii. 139 They wayned the people from this hipocrisie by these reproofes in vaine. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. 38 Tell an Epicure..of his irregular course, weine him from it a little. 4. To remove or abate gradually (a desire, affection). rare.
1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 35 He weans by Degrees his Longings after the Flesh-pots of Sodom. 1842Lady S. Lyttelton Corr. (1912) 327 The [baby] Princess has exactly..the same ‘morbid’ love of one nursery-maid, as Meriel has for you. That is to be weaned, I think, by a little less fondling her yourself. †5. To train, accustom to (good habits). Obs.[Not a survival of the OE. sense (see the etymology); the use seems to have been developed from the notion of ‘weaning’ from the contrary evil.] 1579Lodge Def. Plays 8 Weane thy selfe to wisedome, and vse thy tallant in zeale not for enuie. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 149 When the Father weaneth [later edd. warneth] them to continencie, the flatterer allureth them to lust. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxi, The Iewes by reason of their long aboade in a place of continuall seruile toyle could not suddainely be wained and drawne vnto contrarie offices without some strong impression of terror. |