wanen.¹

Brit.

/weɪn/, U.S.

/weɪn/

Forms: Old English wana ( wona, also won), Middle English– wane, Middle English (? 1500s) wone, Middle English–1700s wain, Middle English wan, Middle English woone, Middle English–1600s wayne, waine.

Etymology: Old English wana (wǫna ) weak masculine (also wan strong neuter) want, lack, deficiency, derived from the adjective wana (wan , etc.), see wane adj. Compare Dutch wan leakage, also the slack or unfilled part of a sack, Gothic wan strong neuter lack. The development of meaning in branch II is due to the influence of the related verb wane v., with which the existing noun became associated as a noun of action. In some applications actual new formation from the stem of the verb may have taken place.

I. Senses relating to lack or shortage.

†1.

a. Want, lack, shortage, absence of. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [noun] > deficiency, lack, or shortage

wanec888

trokingc1175

want?c1225

defaultc1300

trokea1325

fault1340

lacking1377

scarcityc1380

wantingc1390

absencea1398

bresta1400

defect?a1425

lack?c1425

defailing1502

mank?a1513

inlaik1562

defection1576

inlaiking1595

vacuity1601

deficience1605

lossa1616

failancea1627

deficiency1634

shortness1669

falling shorta1680

miss1689

wantage1756

shortage1868

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [noun] > an imperfection > want or shortcoming

wanec888

waningc1320

brist1340

insufficience1486

insufficiency1531

want1553

deficiency1664

shortcominga1687

shortfall1895

c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiv. §9 Hit nan mon ne mæg eall habban, þæt him ne sie sumes þinges wana.

c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 400 Anes ðinges ðe is wana [Mark x. 21: cf. Ags. Gosp. an þing þe is wana (where wana is adj.)].

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 145 Defectio omnis mali. Habundancia omnis boni. wone of alle uuele; wole and alle gode.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 55 Þe treowe is ofte mis trouwed. & þe sakelese biloȝen. for wane of witnesse.

13.. Sir Beues (A.) 3478 Of no ioie nas þer wane.

c1330 Arth. & Merl. 3121 Of fesaunce, pertris & of crane Þer was plente & no wane.

a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 35 Weping haueþ myn wonges wet for wikked werk ant wone of wyt.

a1400 Sqr. lowe Degre 322 The Cocke, the Corlewe, and the Crane, With Fesauntes fayre, theyr were no wane.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 5387 Faute of breed þat ilke tide was ouer al þe world so wide But in no londe so mychel wan As in egipte and canaan.

†b. Lack, fault, defect. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 223/1 Dispendium,..wonung, wom, wana uel henþa.

c1320 Cast. Love 229 God ne wrouhte neuer þat þing Þat out les þorw his wonyng, ffor nis no wone on him I-long.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 307 Thilke suete, Whos beaute was withoute wane, This faire Maiden Adriane.

c1480 (a1400) St. Paul 867 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 54 Blowmand bewte but wane or smyt of sawle and body to-giddir knyt.

†c. Omission, shortening. Obsolete. (Cf. sense 4.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > curtailment

wanec1315

abridginga1382

shortinga1390

abridgement1439

defalcation1476

shorteninga1542

retrenchmentc1600

abridge1611

amputation1664

castration1728

curtail1797

curtailment1799

clipping1839

c1315 Shoreham Poems i. 254 Þe wordes scholle be ised Wiþe-oute wane and eche.

†2. Need, want, poverty. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > poverty > [noun]

waedlec888

wanspeedc893

wanea1100

wandrethc1175

miseasea1200

povertya1225

lowness?c1225

needc1225

orcostc1225

poorness?a1300

unwealtha1300

defaultc1300

porailc1325

straitnessa1340

poorhead1340

mischiefa1375

miseasetya1382

needinessa1382

misterc1385

indigencec1386

scarcitya1387

noughtc1400

scantnessc1400

necessity?1406

penurya1425

povertnessa1434

exilitya1439

wantc1450

scarcenessc1475

needinga1500

povertiesa1500

penurity?a1505

poortith?a1513

debility1525

tenuity1535

leanness1550

lack1555

Needham1577

inopy1581

pinching1587

dispurveyance1590

egency1600

macritude1623

penuriousness1630

indigency1631

needihood1648

necessitousness1650

egestuosity1656

straitened circumstancesa1766

unopulence1796

Queer Street1811

lowliness1834

breadlessness1860

unwealthiness1886

out-of-elbowness1890

secondary poverty1901

Short Street1920

a1100 in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses i. 3865 Inopiam, wanan.

c1230 Hali Meid. 29 And tah þu wone hefdest, oðer drehdest ani derf for his deorewurðe luue.

a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 85 God hit wot moni oþer wot lutel of þisse eise. auh beoð ful ofte i derued mid wone & mid scheome. & mid teone.

c1250 Moral Ode 357 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 33 Ne mai non vuel ne non wane beon inne godes riche.

a. The amount by which a plank (esp. one sawn from an unsquared trunk), or a roughly squared log, falls short of a correctly squared shape. Hence, the bevelled edge left on a plank (by reason of one face being narrower than the other), or the imperfect angles of a rough-hewn log (the section of which is thus octagonal, and, according to the size and depth of the ‘wanes’, approaches, more or less nearly, a regular octagon).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > amount by which wood is imperfectly squared > bevelled edge due to

wane1658

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > amount by which wood is imperfectly squared

wane1833

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > amount by which wood is imperfectly squared > imperfect angles due to

wane1875

1658 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour App. vii. 132 When they do hew any timber, they..allow nothing for the wanes.

1658 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour App. vii. 132 They seldome hew nigher to square in this Countrey, then that the four wanes are as broad as the four flats, all which are equal to a square piece of the breadth of one of those wanes; & although those wanes be less in some places then in other, yet will they be of no service so deep as the deepest wane goes.

1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 9 I shall describe the General Strike in measuring Timber,..which is to see that the 4 Wanes are but equal to two Squares.

1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §852 The whole of the materials to be provided and sawed out square free from wane, of the several scantlings and thicknesses herein specified.

1875 T. Laslett Timber & Timber Trees xii. 75 All the thick-stuff and plank to be cut straight, or nearly so, and of parallel thickness, and to be measured for breadth at the middle, or half the length, taking in half the wanes.

1875 T. Laslett Timber & Timber Trees xxxiii. 272 The trees..are hewn into a square form, and have a small amount of wane left upon each angle.

†b. In combinations.

ΚΠ

1658 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour App. vii. 133 Hath not he that buyeth wane-timber, that the wanes run not streight, as much need, and as much reason, to have allowance for the wanes?

1710 D. Hilman Tusser Redivivus Apr. 6 The Seller of the Timber loses all the Gain of the Wane-edges; which Gain in short is a Cheat, although a very customary one.

II. Action of waning.

†4. Decrease in size. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > [noun]

wanea1300

ravalling1609

extenuation1620

diminution1691

reduction1800

degrowth1920

attrition1924

downgrade1935

a1300 Cursor Mundi 1430 Euer stod þai [þe þre wandis] still in an, Wit-outen wax, wit-outen wain [Gött., Fairfax, wane, Trin. woone].

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 104 Bot thilke See which hath no wane Is cleped the gret Occeane.

a. The waning, or gradual decrease of the visible illuminated area on the moon. Now rare except in phrases, on, upon the wane, in (the, her, its) wane.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > [phrase] > falling off

on, upon the wane1548

on the decline1892

the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > [noun] > waning moon > action of

olda1225

wane1548

decrement1610

decrease1626

waddle1678

1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) at Seneo Luna senescens, the moone whan it is in the wane.

1561 R. Eden tr. M. Cortés Arte Nauigation ii. v. sig. D.v^v The decreasyng or wane of the Moone.

1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. E6^v The siluer Moone,..That with the floods fills vp her horned head, And by her waine the wayning ebbs doth keepe.

1608 R. Tofte tr. L. Ariosto Satyres iii. 41 They easly migh espie..How she [sc. the moon] grew in the full, how in the waine.

1613 T. Heywood Brazen Age ii. ii. E 4 When the Moone, by which the Seas are gouern'd, Retir'd his waters by her powerfull wane.

1720 J. Swift Progr. Beauty in Poems 72 Each Night, a Bit drops off her Face, When Mortals say she's in her Wane.

1726 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xix. 352 When the pale Empress of yon' starry train In the next month renews her faded wane.

1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 11 She, like a moon in wane, Faded before him.

1838 W. Wordsworth 'Tis He in Sonn. 8 Yon Moon Doubly depressed, setting, and in her wane.

1850 ‘S. Yendys’ Roman vii. 107 The old moon began to sink, (Long, like her, upon the wane).

b. transferred and figurative.

ΚΠ

1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vi. lxxi. 82 Can..One onely blot so great a light empair, That never could he hope his waning to repair? Ah! never could he hope once to repair So great a wane, should not that new-born Sun Adopt him [etc.].

1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 211 Now is our Berard in the third quarter of the wayne of his liberty.

1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 119 Like the Moon That's past the full, into the wain he goes.

1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám lxxiv. 16 Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane.

c. The period characterized by the waning of the moon, esp. regarded as a favourable, or unfavourable, time for various (usually agricultural) operations. Usually in in (at, etc.) the wane of the moon, rarely unqualified, in the wane.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > [noun] > lunar month > periods within or phases of the moon

full moonOE

new moonOE

waningc1000

new of the moona1398

quarter?a1425

plenilune?a1475

neomeniaa1535

lunationc1549

interlune1561

wane1563

neomeny1569

dark of the moon1591

month of apparition1594

dark moon1615

plenilunium1615

moon1709

interlunation1813

quartering1880

1563 T. Hill Arte Gardening (1593) 101 And certaine will, that the root be digged vp in the waine of the Moone, she then being vnder the earth.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 60^v Yet there are that holde opinion, that yf you sowe them in the wane, they wyll be the smaller.

1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 37 Sowe peason and beanes, in the wane of the Moone.

1631 D. Widdowes tr. W. A. Scribonius Nat. Philos. (new ed.) 13 In part before & after the 8 day, called the encrease and the waine of the Moone.

1651 N. Culpeper Astrol. Judgm. Dis. (1658) 4 Seed sown at the wain of the Moon, grows either not at all, or to no purpose.

1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. ii. 14 To cut Hair..in the Wane, causeth baldness.

1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 445 As for Garden-Beans, they are usually set betwixt November and February, at the Wain of the Moon.

1866 A. Steinmetz Weathercasts 41 In Suffolk it is considered unlucky to kill a pig in the wane of the moon.

6. Gradual decrease or decline in splendour, power, importance, intensity, or the like, esp. as following on the culmination of a process of gradual increase; the declining period (of a person's life, an institution, etc.); the latter part (of a period of time). Phrases as in 5.Quot. a1400 perhaps belongs rather to 1b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition

rureOE

ebbingc1200

fallc1225

declinea1327

downfallingc1330

downfalla1400

fall of mana1400

wanea1400

ruinc1405

wrack1426

inclinationc1450

declination1533

labefactation1535

ebb1555

falling off1577

declining1581

inclining1590

declension1604

downset1608

neck-breaka1658

overseta1658

lapsing1665

reducement1667

lapse1680

labefaction1792

downshift1839

subsidence1839

downgrade1857

downturn1858

downslide1889

downswing1922

turn-down1957

tail-off1975

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 3584 Quen alle wittes ys him gane. þen ys alle his wille in wane.

1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) ii. vii. sig. Ev Who seeth nought herein, his wit is in the wane.

1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 80 Thou which art euen in the wane of thy life,..maist well know what griefes, [etc.].

1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxii. 139 In the waine and declination of Christian pietie.

1601 F. Godwin Catal. Bishops of Eng. 431 The Church by them planted had many notable wanes, and intermissions.

1612 W. Trumball Let. in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 612 His creditt is on the wayne.

1647 W. Lilly Christian Astrol. clxxxv. 821 Doubtlesse it will be a yeer of some unseasonable unquietnesse, one mischiefe arising in the waine of another.

1657 P. Heylyn Ecclesia Vindicata i. i. 33 The authority of the Church was then in the wane.

1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 91 in Justice Vindicated Christianity it self is in the very wayne here among us.

1680 R. Morden Geogr. Rectified (1685) 31 Towards the wain of the Roman Empire.

1762 O. Goldsmith Life R. Nash 54 Mr. Nash's affairs being in the wane, he demanded the money of his lordship's heirs.

1793 E. Inchbald Every one his Fault (1794) ii. i. 24 I should have lost my eye-sight, and have been blind to the wane of her charms.

1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. viii. xii. 357 Signora Mencia..was still in fashion, though a little on the wane.

1823 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 371 Age, and the wane of mind consequent on it.

1831 G. P. R. James Philip Augustus xxv In the wane of September, when days are hot and evenings are chilly.

1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son xlix. 481 The day was in its prime, the day was in its wane, and still..she slept on.

a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. 121 A sign that the influence of Portland was on the wane and that the influence of Albemarle was growing.

1885 Manch. Examiner 6 Apr. 4/7 It is quite possible that his power may be on the wane.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 98 It's [sc. anæsthesia's] persistence or disappearance has been used to measure the persistence or the wane of the disease [sc. hysteria].

1904 Sat. Rev. 13 Feb. 195/1 This feeling is perhaps somewhat on the wane.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† wanen.²

Forms: Also plural Middle English wans, Scottish vanis, Middle English–1500s Scottish waynys. See also wone n.²

Etymology: Early Middle English wāne , also wōne (with open o ), whence the synonymous wone n.² The word belongs to the Germanic root *wan-: *wun-, which expresses the two-fold notion ‘custom’ and ‘dwelling’; the precise source is uncertain.The form *wan- of the root is otherwise known only in the sense ‘custom’ (Old Norse vane weak masculine, custom, Old English węnian wean v. < *wanjan ), while the weak grade *wun- has both senses (Old English gewuna weak masculine, custom, wone n.¹; Old Norse una , Old English wunian to dwell, won v.). There may have been an Old English *wana (or -e ) with the sense ‘dwelling’, or the word may be < Old Norse vane in an unrecorded sense, or with change of sense due to the influence of won v., which meant both ‘to be accustomed’ (compare wont adj.) and ‘to dwell’. After the 14th cent. the form wane is exclusively Scots and northern; wone n.², which in the north was rare, was common in midland and southern use, and survived as a poetic archaism until the 17th cent.

Obsolete.

a. A dwelling-place, residence, house (frequently of religious communities, etc.). Often plural with reference to one building, or group of buildings.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > [noun]

resteOE

worthineeOE

settlea900

wickc900

houseOE

erdinga1000

teld-stedec1000

wonningc1000

innOE

bewistc1200

setnessc1200

wanea1225

i-holda1250

wonec1275

wunselec1275

wonning-place1303

bigginga1325

wonning-stede1338

tabernaclea1340

siegec1374

dwelling-placec1380

lodgingc1380

seea1382

tabernaclea1382

habitationc1384

mansionc1385

arresta1400

bowerc1400

wonning-wanec1400

lengingc1420

tenementc1425

tentc1430

abiding placea1450

mansion place1473

domicile1477

lendingc1480

inhabitance1482

biding-place?1520

seat1535

abode1549

remainingc1550

soil1555

household1585

mansion-seata1586

residing1587

habitance1590

fixation1614

situation?1615

commoratorya1641

haft1785

location1795

fanea1839

inhabitancy1853

habitat1854

occupancy1864

nivas1914

downsetting1927

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > [noun]

earneOE

wickc900

bottleeOE

innOE

boldOE

wonningc1000

wanea1225

wonea1250

bidea1300

dwelling1340

habitaculec1374

habitaclec1384

habitationc1384

mansionc1385

placea1387

manantie?a1400

dungeonc1460

longhousec1460

folda1500

residencea1522

abode1549

bield1570

lodgement1598

bidinga1600

sit-house1743

location1795

wigwam1817

address1855

yard1865

res1882

nivas1914

multifamily1952

a1225 St. Marher. 21 Ant ne schal nan unwiht wunien iþe wanes þer þi martirdom is iwriten inne.

c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14554 Þe Saxons ledde þe Aufrykans, & destruyed þe Cristen wans [v.r. wanes].

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8667 In wanes war we stad vn-wide, And laid vr barns be vr side.

a1400 Sir Perc. 1347 The mene that were with-in the wane, The comone belle gunne knylle.

c1400 Contin. Brut ccxxxii. (Corpus Cambr.) 317 Þe Danes..turned homwardes aȝen levyng behind hem in her ynnes, pryvyly ywriten, in scrowes and on walles, ‘Ȝet shull Danos [Caxton danes wast] þes Wanes.’

?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 2028 A bischope, ane abbot, all vndir ane, Monkes wonand in a wane.

c1480 (a1400) St. Thomas Apostle 277 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 137 Schawyt me þe welful stede, quhare he þe fare palace has mad…& set oure all is þat vanis with brycht & schenand preciuse stanys.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 337 Then he gert cry about thai waynys wide Na Scottis born amang thaim thar suld bid.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. iii. 94 Ida forest, to fugytyve Troianis Thayr best belouit wod and natyve wanys.

a1568 Bannatyne MS (Hunterian Club) 662 Bot sone within a wane scho went, Most hevinly to behold.

1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 7 All thay went with the king to his worthy wane.

1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. xiii. 178 In yon green-wood there is a waik, And in that waik there is a wene.

1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. xiii. 179 In that green wene Kilmeny lay.

1820 Marmaiden of Clyde xvii, in Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. 6 423 A dowie sheen frae his austrous een Gae licht to the dismal wane.]

b. In the obscure alliterative phrase worthy (worshipful, wise) in wane. Cf. wone n.²The sense may have originally been ‘in the dwellings of men, among men’. Cf. similar uses of town n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > good repute > reputability or honourableness > [adjective]

faireOE

wortheOE

worthlyeOE

worthfulOE

menskful?c1225

toldc1275

digne1297

of price?a1300

worshiply1340

worthya1350

menska1375

thriftyc1374

worshipfula1375

worthilya1375

honesta1382

honourablec1384

unshamedc1384

sada1387

of reputationc1390

well-nameda1393

reverent1398

worthy (worshipful, wise) in wanea1400

celebrable?c1400

honouredc1400

worshipablec1425

substantialc1449

undefameda1450

unreviled?1457

honorousa1500

reputed?1532

well-thought-ona1533

well-spoken1539

credible1543

undespised?1548

imitable1550

famous1555

undistained1565

undefame1578

untarred1579

well-reputed1583

unsoiledc1592

dishonourless1595

well-deemed1595

nameworthy1598

regardful1600

indisgraced1606

credenta1616

undishonoureda1616

unscandalized1618

unscandalous1618

unslandered1622

untainted1627

dignousa1636

undisparaged1636

considerable1641

unbranded1641

glorifiable1651

reputable1671

unsullied1743

unstigmatized1778

undisgraced1812

unstained1863

well-thought-of1865

uncompromised1882

scandal-proof1904

cred1987

a1400 Sir Degrev. 433 Thane spekes that wis in-with wane, ‘Ye have well good mene y-slayne.’

c1400 Anturs of Arth. xiii ‘Welecome, Waynour!’ scho says, ‘þou worthye in wane!’

?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 2514 Slyke monkes haue I knawen and sene, Þat..had mare grace of prophecy Þan euer hider to had I; Amang þe whilk boysil was ane, Þe maste wirschipful man in wane.

c1650 (a1500) Eger & Grime (Percy) (1933) 250 It is a lord most worthyest in waine, Erle Gares is his name.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

† wanen.³

Forms: Middle English wene, Middle English wane, weane, Middle English wæne, wone, Middle English wan, woon.

Etymology: perhaps an extension (? starting from the inflected forms) of Old English wéa weak masculine misery. The vowel of Old English wá ill, woe n., or of Old English wáwa weak masculine misery, may have influenced the forms, but compare fone , etc. extended forms of few adj., pron., and n. which are phonologically very similar.

Obsolete.

Misery, woe.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun]

unselthc888

ermtheOE

unselea1023

wellawayOE

wretchhead1154

wandrethc1175

woec1175

wanea1200

wretchdom?c1225

yomernessc1250

balec1275

un-i-selec1275

wan-siðc1275

unseelinessa1300

wretchedheada1300

cursedness1303

wretcheddomc1320

wrechea1325

wretchnessa1330

tribulationc1330

wretchednessa1340

caitifty1340

meeknessa1382

unwealsomeness1382

infelicityc1384

caitifhedea1400

ill liking?a1400

sorea1400

ungleea1400

unweala1400

caitifnessc1400

deploration1490

caitifdoma1500

woefulnessa1513

misery1527

miserity1533

mishappinessa1542

unwealfulnessa1555

tribulance1575

miserableness1613

agony1621

desolatenessa1626

unblissa1628

unhappiness1722

misère1791

shadow1855

valley1882

miz1918

a1200 Moral Ode 151 in Old Eng. Hom. I. 169 Eure he walde her inne wawe and ine wene [v.r. wane] wunien, Wið þet he mihte helle pine bi-flien.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 91 Al þet flesc þuncheð sur oðer bitter þet is pine & wone & alle meoseise.

c1230 Hali Meid. 9 Worldliche wunne þat tu wendes to biȝeten, ant hauest ifunden weane þrin, & wondraðe riue.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2820 Þeo cnihtes weoren vnwepned þa þe wæne heom wes ȝeueðe.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1102 & him-seolf mid wæne [c1300 Otho onneþe] ferde into ane watere.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1099 Heo stureden heora wepnan wane wes on folke.

c1330 King of Tars 66 Jhesu,..Let me nevere that day isee A tiraunt for to take. For Marie love,..Arst yif him wan and wrake.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 419 Kyng Fortigern sat on Þe water side, and was wel ful of woon [L. Vortiger sedit anxius].

Compounds

† wæn-slaht n. Obsolete slaughter.

ΚΠ

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4747 Faren wit swullen to-somne & mid fehten hit to-dælen. makien wæn-slahtes.

† wan-sið n. (also †wen-sið) Obsolete misery.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun]

unselthc888

ermtheOE

unselea1023

wellawayOE

wretchhead1154

wandrethc1175

woec1175

wanea1200

wretchdom?c1225

yomernessc1250

balec1275

un-i-selec1275

wan-siðc1275

unseelinessa1300

wretchedheada1300

cursedness1303

wretcheddomc1320

wrechea1325

wretchnessa1330

tribulationc1330

wretchednessa1340

caitifty1340

meeknessa1382

unwealsomeness1382

infelicityc1384

caitifhedea1400

ill liking?a1400

sorea1400

ungleea1400

unweala1400

caitifnessc1400

deploration1490

caitifdoma1500

woefulnessa1513

misery1527

miserity1533

mishappinessa1542

unwealfulnessa1555

tribulance1575

miserableness1613

agony1621

desolatenessa1626

unblissa1628

unhappiness1722

misère1791

shadow1855

valley1882

miz1918

the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > tribulation, trouble, or affliction > state of misery

wretchhead1154

uselldomc1175

wretchdom?c1225

yomernessc1250

wan-siðc1275

werea1300

wretchedheada1300

cursedness1303

wrechea1325

wretchnessa1330

wretchednessa1340

caitifty1340

miseryc1375

caitifhedea1400

languora1400

caitifnessc1400

deploration1490

caitifdoma1500

pitya1500

unkindness1502

woefulnessa1513

miserability1559

villainya1571

ungraciousness1578

miserableness1613

deplorableness1649

misère1791

dismals1829

unblessedness1836

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1542 & þu scalt worðen warchen. & wonien in wansiðe [c1300 Otho ine wowe].

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 271 Þa Grickes neoren noht warre of heore wensiðe [c1300 Otho mochele harme].

Derivatives

† ˈwanliche adj. [-lich, -ly suffix¹] Obsolete miserable, wretched.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > miserable or wretched

un-i-selieOE

drearyOE

unseelyOE

wretcha1122

usellc1175

unselea1200

wretcheda1200

misease?c1225

un-i-sele?c1250

wanlichec1275

miseasyc1300

wrackfulc1311

unblessed1340

wretchfula1382

wretchedful1382

caitiff1393

loddera1400

unhappena1400

pilledc1400

miserable?c1422

vengeablec1430

unhappyc1440

meschant?1473

miserousc1475

unselc1480

miser1542

forlorn1582

villainous1582

skybala1585

unblestful1608

despicable1635

haveless1868

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > wretchedness > [adjective]

unledeeOE

sorryOE

evila1131

usellc1175

wanlichec1275

bad1276

sorry1372

meana1375

caitiff1393

loddera1400

woefula1400

foulc1400

wretched1450

meschant?1473

unselc1480

peevisha1522

miser1542

scurvy?1577

forlorn1582

villainous1582

measled1596

lamented1611

thrallfula1618

despicable1635

deplorable1642

so-and-so1656

poorish1657

squalida1660

lamentable1676

mesquina1706

shan1714

execrable1738

quisby1807

hole in the wall1822

measly1847

bum1878

shag-bag1888

snidey1890

pathetic1900

the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [adjective]

armlyeOE

un-i-selieOE

unledeeOE

unseelyOE

armOE

wretcha1122

unselea1200

wretcheda1200

wretchlyc1200

misease?c1225

wanlichec1275

miseasyc1300

wansomea1325

simplec1330

wretchfula1382

wretchedful1382

caitiff1393

loddera1400

desolate14..

disconsolatea1425

meschant?1473

miserousc1475

miser1542

unvisited1548

tribulate1575

happiless1582

uncomforted1583

blisslessa1586

uncomfortless1598

miserablea1616

thrallfula1618

calamitous1668

tribulated1682

donsie?1719

unsolaced1796

mis1939

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15116 Nu we maȝen wepen mid wanliche i-beren.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12971 Þa six swin he gon æten alle... al biwaled on axen wanliche [c1300 Otho karfolle] weoren þa sonden.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

† waneadj.

Forms: Old English wana, wona (also wan, won), Middle English wone, won, woon, Middle English–1600s wane, Middle English vane, Middle English–1500s (1800s dialect) wan.

Etymology: Old English wana , wǫna , usually indeclinable, rarely weak (also wan , wǫn , strong adjective) = Old Saxon, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Flemish wan , Old Norse van-r (compare want n.² and wan- prefix), Gothic wan-s < Germanic *wano- , probably < Indogermanic root *wā- as in Latin vānus vain adj. and n.

Obsolete.

1. Lacking, absent, deficient.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective] > deficient or wanting

wanec825

thurfec1175

lacking1480

indigent1531

defect1543

awanting1583

missed1584

wanting1592

defective1603

wanted1619

half-baked1627

deficient1632

manqué1773

c825 Vesp. Ps. xxii[i]. 1 Nowiht me wonu bið [L. nihil mihi deerit].

971 Blickl. Hom. 131 Ærþon þe he [sc. Drihten] on heofenas astige, þonon he næfre won wæs þurh his god~cundnesse miht.

c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xix. 20 Eall þis ic geheold; hwæt is me gyt wana?

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 75 Þe Mon þet haueð þis ilke fif þing mid him he is leful Mon, and, if him is eni þer of wane, he nis nawiht alse leful alse him bi-houede.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 23 Nis nan good wane þer as þeos þreo beoð. Michte. & wisdom & luue Imenged to gederes.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 22846 For al welth sal þam be wan [Gött., Fairf. wane, Trin. wone].

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3353 Tidlike hem was ðat water wane.

a1325 Maudelain 299 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 299 When it no milk gete miȝt, Þe fader..seyd, ‘allas, hir fode is wane’.

c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8329 Let now no god wille be wane, Bot help to venge my fader bane!

1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 30 And qwo-so be wane, schal paye a pound of wax.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 20056 Qua hertili hers or redis hit, Of ur leuedi and sant iohn, þair beniscun þan bes not wan [Gött., Trin. Cambr. won].

c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 493 For he ȝerned ȝelpyng to here; Thaȝ hym wordeȝ were wane when þay to sete wenten.

c1400 26 Pol. Poems ii. 61 Me thenkeþ þere wit is wane To stroiȝe the hony.

c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 515/1 Wane, or wantynge, absens, deessens.

c1475 Mankind 412 in Macro Plays 16 He [Mercy] hath taught Mankynde, wyll I [Myscheff] haue be vane, To fyght manly a-geyn hys fon.

a1529 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte (?1545) 917 Ye must weare bukram, Or canuas of Cane, For sylkes are wane.

2. Destitute of.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > non-possession > [adjective] > devoid of something > lacking or without

wane971

quit?c1225

helpless1362

desolatec1386

wantsomea1400

ungirtc1412

voidc1420

wantinga1475

destitutea1500

unfurnished1541

defect1543

bankrupt1567

frustrate1576

wanting1580

wanting1592

sterile1642

minus1807

lacking1838

to be stuck up for1860

short1873

wanting1874

quits1885

light1936

971 Blickl. Hom. 17 He bið wana þæs ecan leohtes.

OE Crist I 270 Us ær þurh synlust se swearta gæst forteah ond fortylde, þæt we, tires wone, a butan ende sculon ermþu dreogan.

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 73 He nis noht fulliche cristene mon þet is awiht wone of þisse þreo þing.

c1430 Christ's own Complaint 427 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 217 Alle bestes..In kindeli worchinge ben durable Saaf oonly I, of wittis wan.

3. With numerals, etc.: Short of. Used to express numbers (one or two) less than a complete decade.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > plurality > fewness > [adjective] > fewer

wanec900

lessa1387

c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. iii. xxiv. (Schipper) 311 Oþ þæt hyræ daga rim gefylled wæs, þæt is anes geares wana [v.rr. won(a) þe] syxtigra wintra.

a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 972 He wæs þa ana wana .xxx. wintra.

a1225 Leg. Kath. 67 A meiden swiðe ȝung of ȝeres twa wone of twenti.

13.. Evang. Nicod. 419 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen 53 399 Ane wane of fourty strakes with yherd he sall be smyten.

c1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 22 Þe gude herde, þat lefte in þe munte ane wane of a hundrez sep and yede at seke þis ane þ^t was want.

a1500 Anc. Sc. Prophecy in Bernardus de Cura Rei Famuliaris 32 Be the yheris of cryst comyn and gone, Fully nynty ande nyne, nocht one wone.

4. Incomplete; not fully formed, or properly shaped. Of the moon: Not full.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > [adjective] > not fully formed

unshapenc1350

wanec1485

unshaped1572

unmade1578

semi-formed1828

the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > [adjective] > full > not

wanec1485

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 70 Quhen jt [sc. the moon] is full, all thingis..ar mare forssy..na quhen jt is wane.

a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 206 Wan wraiglane wasp.

1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word) A wan tree is a tree that has not grown in a circular form, or that is not filled up on one side.

5. Insufficient, (too) small. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective]

insuffisant1387

unsufficient1398

over-little?a1400

unsuffisantc1400

unthankful1491

insufficienta1513

wanec1540

incompetent1611

under1673

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3046 Hir nose for the nonest was nobly shapyn,..Nawther to wyde ne to wan, but as hom well semyt.

1624 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1878) III. 164 [They] buye thair staiple guids quhen the samin does come to the staiple port at ane wane mercatt.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

wanev.

Brit.

/weɪn/, U.S.

/weɪn/

Forms: Inflected waned, waning. Forms: α. Old English wanian, Middle English wanie-n, Middle English wanye, Middle English ? wanȝe, Middle English–1600s wayne, Middle English wan, 1500s–1600s waine, 1500s–1800s wain, 1600s wean, Middle English– wane. β. Old English wonian, Middle English wone. Also with prefix, Old English ȝe-, Middle English i-.

Etymology: Old English wanian (wǫnian ) weak verb to lessen (transitive and intransitive) = Old Frisian wonia , Middle Dutch waenen , wanen , Old Saxon wanon , Old High German wanôn , wanên (Middle High German wanen ), intransitive, Old Norse vana transitive, vana-sk to grow less (Norwegian vana to spoil, waste), Gothic *wanan (compare wanains loss, ἤττημα , Romance xi. 12) < Old Germanic *wanōjan , *wanǣian , < *wano- lacking, wane adj.

I. intransitive. To grow less, decrease. (Opposed to wax.)

a. To decrease in size or extent; to dwindle. Now rare. †Also with pleonastic complement, to wane less, too little.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > become reduced in size or extent [verb (intransitive)]

narrowOE

waneOE

smallOE

slakec1380

welk1390

fade1398

lessenc1400

minish?a1425

decay1489

adminisha1500

diminish1520

to grow downwards?1523

ungrow1598

scant1607

settlea1642

to run off1765

dwarf1776

comminute1850

downsize1977

OE Beowulf 1607 Þa þæt sweord ongan æfter heaþoswate hildegicelum, wigbil wanian.

c1290 St. Brendan 342 in S. Eng. Leg. 229 Ich wondri houȝ þis taperes bernez þus: and ne waniez nouȝt.

a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4772 Þis was a wondir~full werk..þat þai [two trees] suld wax soo & wane within a wale time.

14.. 26 Pol. Poems xix. 44 Þy vices waxen moo, And þy vertues wanen lesse.

1584 R. Greene Gwydonius f. 58^v The tree forthwith wayneth and wythereth.

1647 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Worse Times iii. x. 141 [A disease] Wherein the Head waxeth too great, whil'st the Legges, and lower parts waine too Little.

1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. I. 298 Fruits and animals wax and wane.

1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 444 That which grows is said to wax, and that which decays to wane.

1896 Black Horse Gaz. Jan. 8/2 When the width of an Empire may wax and enlarge Or shrivel and wane with the fate of a charge.

†b. To decrease in number. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)] > decrease in quantity or number

wane1297

moulter1643

moulder1650

thin1779

weed1877

1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 982 Þat hii hom ssolde vnder stonde & lene hom wimmen þat hii miȝte hor ospring eche so. Vor þing þat woneþ & noþing wexþ sone it worþ ido.

c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 1645 Now haue y lost kyng Moradas..And othre kynges manye..Now my folkes doþ þus wanye y-lost ys myn honour.

†c. To grow less in quantity or volume. Of the sea, water: To subside, ebb. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > change in level of water > [verb (intransitive)] > recede or subside

ebbOE

wanec1290

withdrawa1300

run?a1425

the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > types of tide [verb (intransitive)] > ebb

falleOE

ebbOE

wanec1290

reflow1429

to go out1595

to run out1608

refloat1632

c1290 St. Laurence 84 in S. Eng. Leg. 342 Þis tresour..ne schal neuere wanie, ake euere wexe faste.

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum iii. xviii. (Tollemache MS.) Physiciens telleþ þat blood waneþ by age [L. sanguinem minui per ætatem].

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xiii. xxiii. (Tollemache MS.) Whan þe mone is in þe lower corse water begynneþ to wanye.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 496 How þat watterez wern woned & þe worlde dryed.

c1440 York Myst. ix. 204 It [sc. the flood] is wanand, þis wate I wele.

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 70 The mannis harnis is full jn the full mone and at the full see, and wanis as the see.

c1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 160 This great water seemes to flow and wane with ye wind but it does not Ebb and flow Like the sea with the tyde.

1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. i. 15 The snow, which had been for some time waning, had given way entirely under the fresh gale of the preceding night. The more distant hills, indeed, retained their snowy mantle, but all the open country was cleared.

2. Of the moon: To undergo the periodical decrease in the extent of its visible illuminated portion, characteristic of the second half of the lunation.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > pass through phase [verb (intransitive)] > wane

wane971

wanzec1175

waste1600

971 Blickl. Hom. 17 Þonne se mona wanað, þonne tacnað he ure deaþlicnesse.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 129 Þe Mone wuneð & waxeð. & nis neauer studefest.

c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1220 And vnder nethe hir feet. she hadde a moone Wexinge it was, and sholde wanye soone.

c1440 Astron. Cal. (Ashm. 391) W^tyn it is an hoole which shew^t by similitude how þe moone wexeþ and wanȝeþ [? read wanzeþ: see Wanze v. 2].

1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream i. i. 4 But oh, me thinks, how slow This old Moone wanes [printed waues; 1623 wanes].

1601 Song of Mary in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign Elizabeth (1845) II. 428 Her sunne doth neuer clipse nor cloude; Her moone doth neuer wax nor wane.

1762 J. Kennedy Compl. Syst. Astron. Chronol. 728 The validity of the sacred writings never can be denied, while the moon shall encrease and wane.

1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. §232 From New Moon the illuminated portion of our satellite waxes, or increases in size, till Full Moon, and then wanes, or diminishes, to the next New Moon.

3. Of light, colour, luminous or coloured objects: To decrease in brilliance or splendour; to become faint or dim. Also (nonce-uses) with pleonastic complement, to wane faint, grey.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [verb (intransitive)] > become faint

wanec1000

fade13..

faint1430

vade1471

languish?1510

relent1531

the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > grow dim or lose brightness [verb (intransitive)]

dima1300

fade13..

appal1393

duskc1430

pallc1450

cloud1555

pale1822

wane1832

film1844

dull1862

gauze1876

c1000 Rule of Chrodegang xix Æfter þissum tidum sona cymð se æfensang..& þæs dæges leoht þonne eac wanoð.

a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1107 Manege sædon þet hi on þam monan..mistlice tacna gesawon, & ongean cynde his leoman wexende & waniende.

1832 Ld. Tennyson Lady of Shalott iv, in Poems (new ed.) 16 The pale-yellow woods were waning.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. v. vi. 323 It has waned faint and again waxed bright.

1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge x. 295 The light waned without, it grew dusk, became quite dark.

1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke II. xii. 185 The candles waned grey, and the great light streamed in through every crack and cranny.

1888 G. Meredith Reading of Earth 118 Remote they [sc. the stars] wane to gaze intense.

figurative.1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. i. i. 6 The royal tournaments..which were, however, waning from their ancient lustre.1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §8. 445 The old splendour of her Court waned and disappeared.

a. Of a person, nation, institution: To decline in power, importance, prosperity, or renown.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition

afalleOE

wanec1000

fallOE

ebba1420

to go backward?a1425

to go down?1440

decay1483

sink?a1513

delapsea1530

reel1529

decline1530

to go backwards1562

rue1576

droop1577

ruina1600

set1607

lapse1641

to lose ground1647

to go to pigs and whistles1794

to come (also go) down in the world1819

to peg out1852

to lose hold, one's balance1877

to go under1879

toboggan1887

slip1930

to turn down1936

c1000 West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 30 Hit gebyraþ þæt he weaxe, and þæt ic wanige.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13472 Þat heore uolc gon waxen and Bruttes gunnen wonien [c1300 Otho wanien].

a1300 Cursor Mundi 924 Iurselem was struid an [tan] þan can þair kingrik for to wan.

c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1255 Þey wil waxe & we schal wanye.

a1628 F. Greville Treat. Humane Learning lxviii, in Certaine Wks. (1633) 36 And as by artlesse Guides, States euer waine: So doe they where these vselesse dreamers reigne.

a1633 T. Taylor God's Judgem. (1642) i. i. xvi. 51 This was the first shake that ever this kingdome received..whereby it began to waine and decline.

1678 J. Dryden All for Love iii. 31 I'm waining in his favor, yet I love him.

1690 J. Child Disc. Trade Pref. sig. B2^v The inseparable affinity that is..at all times between Land and Trade, which are Twins, and have always, and ever will wax and wane together.

1850 J. McCosh Method Divine Govt. (ed. 2) i. ii. 54 When Popery was waning in France in the days of Louis XIV.

1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun II. vii. 86 A people are waning to decay and ruin.

1868 W. Peard Pract. Water-farming i. 7 Pisciculture began to wane.

1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 122 Plato..had seen the Athenian empire..wax and wane.

1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest V. xxiv. 489 The ban took effect, because the institution was already waning.

b. To decline in vigour, to age. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > be or seem old [verb (intransitive)] > grow old

oldeOE

eldc1175

to fall in (also to) agea1398

forlive1398

hoara1420

runa1425

age1440

veterate1623

senesce1656

olden1700

wane1821

to get on in years1822

senilize1841

1821 J. Galt Ann. Parish xxix. 252 Even Miss Sabrina Hookie,..though now waned from her meridian,..set herself to learn and to teach tambouring.

1899 J. Milne Romance of Pro-Consul xix. 208 Sir George Grey, as he waned under the growing load, realised that he and Greater Britain would be no more together.

5. Of qualities, conditions, activities, feelings, power, etc.: To become gradually less in degree, to decline in intensity, abate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)]

littleOE

setc1000

wanzec1175

lessc1225

allayc1275

wane1297

slaken1303

disincreasec1374

slakec1380

decrease1382

debatea1400

unwaxa1400

wastea1400

adminishc1400

lessenc1400

imminish14..

aslakec1405

minish?a1425

assuagec1430

shrinkc1449

to let down1486

decay1489

diminish1520

fall1523

rebate1540

batea1542

to come down1548

abate1560

stoop1572

pine1580

slack1580

scanten1585

shrivel1588

decrew1596

remit1629

contract1648

subside1680

lower1697

relax1701

drop1730

to take off1776

to run down1792

reduce1798

recede1810

to run off1816

to go down1823

attenuatea1834

ease1876

downscale1945

the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > become less violent or severe [verb (intransitive)] > lose vigour or intensity

swindOE

wane1297

forslacka1300

keelc1325

deadc1384

abatea1387

flag1639

to go off1642

subsidea1645

slacken1651

flat1654

lower1699

relax1701

deaden1723

entame1768

sober1825

lighten1827

sletch1847

slow1849

languish1855

bate1860

to slow up1861

to slow down1879

1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 8488 Þat wiþinne was sorwe inou hor poer wanede vaste.

a1340 R. Rolle Psalter Prol. All gladnes & delite of erth wanys & at þe last wytes til noght.

1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 3 And so my witte wex and wanyed til I a fole were.

a1500 R. Henryson Ressoning betuix Aige & Yowth 63 in Poems (1981) 173 Thy wittis fyve sall wane, thocht thow nocht wald.

1599 J. Hayward 1st Pt. Henrie IIII 140 Whilest the one Kings power was waining, and the other not yet fullye wexen.

1649 C. Wase tr. Sophocles Electra 10 Nor waynes my grief, but still encreases more.

1655 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 1st Pt. 290 But let it [sc. our obedience] seem to wain in any service or duty, then the Jordan of our faith flies back.

1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the First 11 How wanes my borrow'd bliss?

1825 C. Lamb Wedding in Elia 2nd Ser. The infinity of full satisfaction..began to wane into something of misgiving.

1833 T. Chalmers On Power Wisdom & Goodness of God I. i. 79 This sense of a universal law..never waned into total extinction among the tribes of ferocious and untamed wanderers.

1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. I. i. 161 The influence which his good private character..once gave him had been rapidly waning.

1903 M. L. Bruce Anna Swanwick v. 184 The precious hours passed, and the still more precious physical strength waned.

1909 E. H. Burton Life Bp. Challoner II. xxxiv. 270 Gradually his enthusiasm for the Protestant cause waned.

6. Of a period of time: To draw to its close.Usually with some notion of sense 3 or 5.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > be at an end [verb (intransitive)] > approach the end

wane1590

to grow to wastea1616

to draw in1769

to draw by1850

1590 in W. Segar Honor Mil. & Civill (1602) iii. liv. 198 But spurnd in vaine, youth waineth by encreasing.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. iii. 57 As I walked but slowly, the night waned apace.

1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc x. 186 But soon the night wain'd on, And the loud trumpets' blare from broken sleep Roused them.

1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions iv. §5. 405 A solitary genus of Australia..whose term of existence seems fast waning to its close.

1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxxvi. 361 The day waned into a gloomy evening, overcast and sad.

1865 M. E. Braddon Sir Jasper iii The summer waned slowly, very slowly for that quiet dweller in Scarsdale Hermitage.

1903 ‘S. G. Tallentyre’ Life Voltaire (1905) vii. 80 The year waned in such studies.

II. transitive. To cause to decrease.

†7. To lessen, diminish, abridge (a privilege, right, etc.). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > curtail

wanea889

dockc1380

bridgec1384

abridgea1393

limita1398

syncopec1412

defalk1475

shortena1535

to cut short?1542

royn1573

retrench1587

curtail1589

retranch1589

lop1594

scantle1596

scant1599

scantelize1611

curtalize1622

defalce1651

detrench1655

barb1657

defalcatea1690

razee1815

detruncate1846

to cut down1857

shave1898

the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > annul, cancel, revoke [verb (transitive)] > make void or invalid

wanea889

voida1340

avoidc1375

abolishc1475

disnull1509

disannula1513

annihilate1525

evacuate1526

aniente1528

extinct1530

disable1548

extinguish1548

solute1550

destitutea1563

exinanitea1575

cashier1596

devoid1601

shorta1616

supersede1618

vitiate1627

invalidate1649

out1653

vacate1662

exinanitiate1698

atheticize1701

squasha1777

invalid1827

negate1837

negative1837

unsanction1854

cancel-

a889 Charter of Ælfred in Sweet Old Eng. Texts 452 Ond swa hwylc mon swa hio wonie & breoce, gewonie him god almahtig his weorldare ond ea[c] swa his sawle are.

OE Riddle 20 33 Oft ic wirum dol wife abelge, wonie hyre willan.

c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Þe oreguil and þe wraððe of kinges and of barones..wurreð uppe chirches oðer wanieð hire rihtes.

1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii^v I aught as prynce him to prise for his prouese That wanyt noght my wourschip as he y^t al wan.

a1628 F. Greville Treat. Humane Learning cxvii, in Certaine Wks. (1633) 45 And of these Arts it may be said againe, That since their Theoricke is infinite; Of infinite there can no Artes remaine... Their Theoricke then must not waine their vse.

†8. To empty, render vacant. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > leave unoccupied [verb (transitive)] > make unoccupied

wanec1200

evacuate1607

untenant1640

vacant1649

unstock1655

disnesta1700

to clean out1858

distenant1876

c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 33 Ðos word sede þe angel for þat man sholde fuluullen englene sete þe was er iwaned þo þe lucifer and his ferreden fellen ut þarof.

†9. To come short of, lack. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > non-possession > not have [verb (transitive)] > lack

wantc1175

missa1300

tharnc1300

to fail of1307

lackc1320

fault1377

failc1380

wanea1400

defaultc1425

to want ofc1425

walter1463

fault?1504

to defail of1556

to want for1560

scant1565

inlaik1568

impaira1626

to bate of1633

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12196 Bot þai are..Als a chim or brasin bell, þat noþer can vnderstand ne tell Wat takens þair aun sune, þat witt bath wanis and resune.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4291 Quen hert has þat it will wiss þe bodi mai haue namar bliss, Ne namar wa þan will to wan.

10.

a. to wane away: to cause to wane away, to diminish gradually. Also reflexive of the moon (nonce-use), to wane away.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (transitive)] > gradually

to wane away1601

dwindlea1661

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > reduce gradually

to wane away1601

wear1697

wean1707

whittle1736

to tail off (out)1827

to ease off1884

to taper off (away, down)1898

to run down1960

to wind down1969

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxiv. xv. 198 Speciall remedie for ruptures, convulsions, and pleurisies: it waneth away the overgrowne splene.

1797 A. Seward Lett. (1811) V. 4 Proud once and princely was the mansion, ere a succession of spendthrifts waned away its splendour.

1867 J. Ingelow Tired iv And let that moon of April wane itself away.

b. To cause (the moon) to wane.Apparently an isolated use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > pass through phase [verb (transitive)] > cause to wane

wane1904

1904 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 46 The hidden hand which wanes the moon and ebbs the tide.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

n.¹c888

n.²a1225

n.³a1200

adj.c825

v.a889

单词	wane
释义	wanen.¹ Brit. /weɪn/, U.S. /weɪn/ Forms: Old English wana ( wona, also won), Middle English– wane, Middle English (? 1500s) wone, Middle English–1700s wain, Middle English wan, Middle English woone, Middle English–1600s wayne, waine. Etymology: Old English wana (wǫna ) weak masculine (also wan strong neuter) want, lack, deficiency, derived from the adjective wana (wan , etc.), see wane adj. Compare Dutch wan leakage, also the slack or unfilled part of a sack, Gothic wan strong neuter lack. The development of meaning in branch II is due to the influence of the related verb wane v., with which the existing noun became associated as a noun of action. In some applications actual new formation from the stem of the verb may have taken place. I. Senses relating to lack or shortage. †1. a. Want, lack, shortage, absence of. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [noun] > deficiency, lack, or shortage wanec888 trokingc1175 want?c1225 defaultc1300 trokea1325 fault1340 lacking1377 scarcityc1380 wantingc1390 absencea1398 bresta1400 defect?a1425 lack?c1425 defailing1502 mank?a1513 inlaik1562 defection1576 inlaiking1595 vacuity1601 deficience1605 lossa1616 failancea1627 deficiency1634 shortness1669 falling shorta1680 miss1689 wantage1756 shortage1868 the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [noun] > an imperfection > want or shortcoming wanec888 waningc1320 brist1340 insufficience1486 insufficiency1531 want1553 deficiency1664 shortcominga1687 shortfall1895 c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiv. §9 Hit nan mon ne mæg eall habban, þæt him ne sie sumes þinges wana. c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 400 Anes ðinges ðe is wana [Mark x. 21: cf. Ags. Gosp. an þing þe is wana (where wana is adj.)]. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 145 Defectio omnis mali. Habundancia omnis boni. wone of alle uuele; wole and alle gode. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 55 Þe treowe is ofte mis trouwed. & þe sakelese biloȝen. for wane of witnesse. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 3478 Of no ioie nas þer wane. c1330 Arth. & Merl. 3121 Of fesaunce, pertris & of crane Þer was plente & no wane. a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 35 Weping haueþ myn wonges wet for wikked werk ant wone of wyt. a1400 Sqr. lowe Degre 322 The Cocke, the Corlewe, and the Crane, With Fesauntes fayre, theyr were no wane. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 5387 Faute of breed þat ilke tide was ouer al þe world so wide But in no londe so mychel wan As in egipte and canaan. †b. Lack, fault, defect. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 223/1 Dispendium,..wonung, wom, wana uel henþa. c1320 Cast. Love 229 God ne wrouhte neuer þat þing Þat out les þorw his wonyng, ffor nis no wone on him I-long. 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 307 Thilke suete, Whos beaute was withoute wane, This faire Maiden Adriane. c1480 (a1400) St. Paul 867 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 54 Blowmand bewte but wane or smyt of sawle and body to-giddir knyt. †c. Omission, shortening. Obsolete. (Cf. sense 4.) ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > curtailment wanec1315 abridginga1382 shortinga1390 abridgement1439 defalcation1476 shorteninga1542 retrenchmentc1600 abridge1611 amputation1664 castration1728 curtail1797 curtailment1799 clipping1839 c1315 Shoreham Poems i. 254 Þe wordes scholle be ised Wiþe-oute wane and eche. †2. Need, want, poverty. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] waedlec888 wanspeedc893 wanea1100 wandrethc1175 miseasea1200 povertya1225 lowness?c1225 needc1225 orcostc1225 poorness?a1300 unwealtha1300 defaultc1300 porailc1325 straitnessa1340 poorhead1340 mischiefa1375 miseasetya1382 needinessa1382 misterc1385 indigencec1386 scarcitya1387 noughtc1400 scantnessc1400 necessity?1406 penurya1425 povertnessa1434 exilitya1439 wantc1450 scarcenessc1475 needinga1500 povertiesa1500 penurity?a1505 poortith?a1513 debility1525 tenuity1535 leanness1550 lack1555 Needham1577 inopy1581 pinching1587 dispurveyance1590 egency1600 macritude1623 penuriousness1630 indigency1631 needihood1648 necessitousness1650 egestuosity1656 straitened circumstancesa1766 unopulence1796 Queer Street1811 lowliness1834 breadlessness1860 unwealthiness1886 out-of-elbowness1890 secondary poverty1901 Short Street1920 a1100 in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses i. 3865 Inopiam, wanan. c1230 Hali Meid. 29 And tah þu wone hefdest, oðer drehdest ani derf for his deorewurðe luue. a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 85 God hit wot moni oþer wot lutel of þisse eise. auh beoð ful ofte i derued mid wone & mid scheome. & mid teone. c1250 Moral Ode 357 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 33 Ne mai non vuel ne non wane beon inne godes riche. 3. a. The amount by which a plank (esp. one sawn from an unsquared trunk), or a roughly squared log, falls short of a correctly squared shape. Hence, the bevelled edge left on a plank (by reason of one face being narrower than the other), or the imperfect angles of a rough-hewn log (the section of which is thus octagonal, and, according to the size and depth of the ‘wanes’, approaches, more or less nearly, a regular octagon). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > amount by which wood is imperfectly squared > bevelled edge due to wane1658 society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > amount by which wood is imperfectly squared wane1833 society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > amount by which wood is imperfectly squared > imperfect angles due to wane1875 1658 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour App. vii. 132 When they do hew any timber, they..allow nothing for the wanes. 1658 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour App. vii. 132 They seldome hew nigher to square in this Countrey, then that the four wanes are as broad as the four flats, all which are equal to a square piece of the breadth of one of those wanes; & although those wanes be less in some places then in other, yet will they be of no service so deep as the deepest wane goes. 1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 9 I shall describe the General Strike in measuring Timber,..which is to see that the 4 Wanes are but equal to two Squares. 1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §852 The whole of the materials to be provided and sawed out square free from wane, of the several scantlings and thicknesses herein specified. 1875 T. Laslett Timber & Timber Trees xii. 75 All the thick-stuff and plank to be cut straight, or nearly so, and of parallel thickness, and to be measured for breadth at the middle, or half the length, taking in half the wanes. 1875 T. Laslett Timber & Timber Trees xxxiii. 272 The trees..are hewn into a square form, and have a small amount of wane left upon each angle. †b. In combinations. ΚΠ 1658 G. Atwell Faithfull Surveyour App. vii. 133 Hath not he that buyeth wane-timber, that the wanes run not streight, as much need, and as much reason, to have allowance for the wanes? 1710 D. Hilman Tusser Redivivus Apr. 6 The Seller of the Timber loses all the Gain of the Wane-edges; which Gain in short is a Cheat, although a very customary one. II. Action of waning. †4. Decrease in size. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > [noun] wanea1300 ravalling1609 extenuation1620 diminution1691 reduction1800 degrowth1920 attrition1924 downgrade1935 a1300 Cursor Mundi 1430 Euer stod þai [þe þre wandis] still in an, Wit-outen wax, wit-outen wain [Gött., Fairfax, wane, Trin. woone]. 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 104 Bot thilke See which hath no wane Is cleped the gret Occeane. 5. a. The waning, or gradual decrease of the visible illuminated area on the moon. Now rare except in phrases, on, upon the wane, in (the, her, its) wane. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > [phrase] > falling off on, upon the wane1548 on the decline1892 the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > [noun] > waning moon > action of olda1225 wane1548 decrement1610 decrease1626 waddle1678 1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) at Seneo Luna senescens, the moone whan it is in the wane. 1561 R. Eden tr. M. Cortés Arte Nauigation ii. v. sig. D.v^v The decreasyng or wane of the Moone. 1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. E6^v The siluer Moone,..That with the floods fills vp her horned head, And by her waine the wayning ebbs doth keepe. 1608 R. Tofte tr. L. Ariosto Satyres iii. 41 They easly migh espie..How she [sc. the moon] grew in the full, how in the waine. 1613 T. Heywood Brazen Age ii. ii. E 4 When the Moone, by which the Seas are gouern'd, Retir'd his waters by her powerfull wane. 1720 J. Swift Progr. Beauty in Poems 72 Each Night, a Bit drops off her Face, When Mortals say she's in her Wane. 1726 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xix. 352 When the pale Empress of yon' starry train In the next month renews her faded wane. 1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 11 She, like a moon in wane, Faded before him. 1838 W. Wordsworth 'Tis He in Sonn. 8 Yon Moon Doubly depressed, setting, and in her wane. 1850 ‘S. Yendys’ Roman vii. 107 The old moon began to sink, (Long, like her, upon the wane). b. transferred and figurative. ΚΠ 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vi. lxxi. 82 Can..One onely blot so great a light empair, That never could he hope his waning to repair? Ah! never could he hope once to repair So great a wane, should not that new-born Sun Adopt him [etc.]. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 211 Now is our Berard in the third quarter of the wayne of his liberty. 1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 119 Like the Moon That's past the full, into the wain he goes. View more context for this quotation 1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám lxxiv. 16 Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane. c. The period characterized by the waning of the moon, esp. regarded as a favourable, or unfavourable, time for various (usually agricultural) operations. Usually in in (at, etc.) the wane of the moon, rarely unqualified, in the wane. ΘΚΠ the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > [noun] > lunar month > periods within or phases of the moon full moonOE new moonOE waningc1000 new of the moona1398 quarter?a1425 plenilune?a1475 neomeniaa1535 lunationc1549 interlune1561 wane1563 neomeny1569 dark of the moon1591 month of apparition1594 dark moon1615 plenilunium1615 moon1709 interlunation1813 quartering1880 1563 T. Hill Arte Gardening (1593) 101 And certaine will, that the root be digged vp in the waine of the Moone, she then being vnder the earth. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 60^v Yet there are that holde opinion, that yf you sowe them in the wane, they wyll be the smaller. 1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 37 Sowe peason and beanes, in the wane of the Moone. 1631 D. Widdowes tr. W. A. Scribonius Nat. Philos. (new ed.) 13 In part before & after the 8 day, called the encrease and the waine of the Moone. 1651 N. Culpeper Astrol. Judgm. Dis. (1658) 4 Seed sown at the wain of the Moon, grows either not at all, or to no purpose. 1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. ii. 14 To cut Hair..in the Wane, causeth baldness. 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 445 As for Garden-Beans, they are usually set betwixt November and February, at the Wain of the Moon. 1866 A. Steinmetz Weathercasts 41 In Suffolk it is considered unlucky to kill a pig in the wane of the moon. 6. Gradual decrease or decline in splendour, power, importance, intensity, or the like, esp. as following on the culmination of a process of gradual increase; the declining period (of a person's life, an institution, etc.); the latter part (of a period of time). Phrases as in 5.Quot. a1400 perhaps belongs rather to 1b. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition rureOE ebbingc1200 fallc1225 declinea1327 downfallingc1330 downfalla1400 fall of mana1400 wanea1400 ruinc1405 wrack1426 inclinationc1450 declination1533 labefactation1535 ebb1555 falling off1577 declining1581 inclining1590 declension1604 downset1608 neck-breaka1658 overseta1658 lapsing1665 reducement1667 lapse1680 labefaction1792 downshift1839 subsidence1839 downgrade1857 downturn1858 downslide1889 downswing1922 turn-down1957 tail-off1975 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 3584 Quen alle wittes ys him gane. þen ys alle his wille in wane. 1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) ii. vii. sig. Ev Who seeth nought herein, his wit is in the wane. 1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 80 Thou which art euen in the wane of thy life,..maist well know what griefes, [etc.]. 1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxii. 139 In the waine and declination of Christian pietie. 1601 F. Godwin Catal. Bishops of Eng. 431 The Church by them planted had many notable wanes, and intermissions. 1612 W. Trumball Let. in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 612 His creditt is on the wayne. 1647 W. Lilly Christian Astrol. clxxxv. 821 Doubtlesse it will be a yeer of some unseasonable unquietnesse, one mischiefe arising in the waine of another. 1657 P. Heylyn Ecclesia Vindicata i. i. 33 The authority of the Church was then in the wane. 1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 91 in Justice Vindicated Christianity it self is in the very wayne here among us. 1680 R. Morden Geogr. Rectified (1685) 31 Towards the wain of the Roman Empire. 1762 O. Goldsmith Life R. Nash 54 Mr. Nash's affairs being in the wane, he demanded the money of his lordship's heirs. 1793 E. Inchbald Every one his Fault (1794) ii. i. 24 I should have lost my eye-sight, and have been blind to the wane of her charms. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. viii. xii. 357 Signora Mencia..was still in fashion, though a little on the wane. 1823 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 371 Age, and the wane of mind consequent on it. 1831 G. P. R. James Philip Augustus xxv In the wane of September, when days are hot and evenings are chilly. 1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son xlix. 481 The day was in its prime, the day was in its wane, and still..she slept on. a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. 121 A sign that the influence of Portland was on the wane and that the influence of Albemarle was growing. 1885 Manch. Examiner 6 Apr. 4/7 It is quite possible that his power may be on the wane. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 98 It's [sc. anæsthesia's] persistence or disappearance has been used to measure the persistence or the wane of the disease [sc. hysteria]. 1904 Sat. Rev. 13 Feb. 195/1 This feeling is perhaps somewhat on the wane. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † wanen.² Forms: Also plural Middle English wans, Scottish vanis, Middle English–1500s Scottish waynys. See also wone n.² Etymology: Early Middle English wāne , also wōne (with open o ), whence the synonymous wone n.² The word belongs to the Germanic root wan-: wun-, which expresses the two-fold notion ‘custom’ and ‘dwelling’; the precise source is uncertain.The form wan- of the root is otherwise known only in the sense ‘custom’ (Old Norse vane* weak masculine, custom, Old English węnian wean v. < wanjan ), while the weak grade wun- has both senses (Old English gewuna weak masculine, custom, wone n.¹; Old Norse una , Old English wunian to dwell, won v.). There may have been an Old English wana (or -e ) with the sense ‘dwelling’, or the word may be < Old Norse vane* in an unrecorded sense, or with change of sense due to the influence of won v., which meant both ‘to be accustomed’ (compare wont adj.) and ‘to dwell’. After the 14th cent. the form wane is exclusively Scots and northern; wone n.², which in the north was rare, was common in midland and southern use, and survived as a poetic archaism until the 17th cent. Obsolete. a. A dwelling-place, residence, house (frequently of religious communities, etc.). Often plural with reference to one building, or group of buildings. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > [noun] resteOE worthineeOE settlea900 wickc900 houseOE erdinga1000 teld-stedec1000 wonningc1000 innOE bewistc1200 setnessc1200 wanea1225 i-holda1250 wonec1275 wunselec1275 wonning-place1303 bigginga1325 wonning-stede1338 tabernaclea1340 siegec1374 dwelling-placec1380 lodgingc1380 seea1382 tabernaclea1382 habitationc1384 mansionc1385 arresta1400 bowerc1400 wonning-wanec1400 lengingc1420 tenementc1425 tentc1430 abiding placea1450 mansion place1473 domicile1477 lendingc1480 inhabitance1482 biding-place?1520 seat1535 abode1549 remainingc1550 soil1555 household1585 mansion-seata1586 residing1587 habitance1590 fixation1614 situation?1615 commoratorya1641 haft1785 location1795 fanea1839 inhabitancy1853 habitat1854 occupancy1864 nivas1914 downsetting1927 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > [noun] earneOE wickc900 bottleeOE innOE boldOE wonningc1000 wanea1225 wonea1250 bidea1300 dwelling1340 habitaculec1374 habitaclec1384 habitationc1384 mansionc1385 placea1387 manantie?a1400 dungeonc1460 longhousec1460 folda1500 residencea1522 abode1549 bield1570 lodgement1598 bidinga1600 sit-house1743 location1795 wigwam1817 address1855 yard1865 res1882 nivas1914 multifamily1952 a1225 St. Marher. 21 Ant ne schal nan unwiht wunien iþe wanes þer þi martirdom is iwriten inne. c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14554 Þe Saxons ledde þe Aufrykans, & destruyed þe Cristen wans [v.r. wanes]. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8667 In wanes war we stad vn-wide, And laid vr barns be vr side. a1400 Sir Perc. 1347 The mene that were with-in the wane, The comone belle gunne knylle. c1400 Contin. Brut ccxxxii. (Corpus Cambr.) 317 Þe Danes..turned homwardes aȝen levyng behind hem in her ynnes, pryvyly ywriten, in scrowes and on walles, ‘Ȝet shull Danos [Caxton danes wast] þes Wanes.’ ?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 2028 A bischope, ane abbot, all vndir ane, Monkes wonand in a wane. c1480 (a1400) St. Thomas Apostle 277 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 137 Schawyt me þe welful stede, quhare he þe fare palace has mad…& set oure all is þat vanis with brycht & schenand preciuse stanys. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 337 Then he gert cry about thai waynys wide Na Scottis born amang thaim thar suld bid. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. iii. 94 Ida forest, to fugytyve Troianis Thayr best belouit wod and natyve wanys. a1568 Bannatyne MS (Hunterian Club) 662 Bot sone within a wane scho went, Most hevinly to behold. 1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 7 All thay went with the king to his worthy wane. 1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. xiii. 178 In yon green-wood there is a waik, And in that waik there is a wene. 1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. xiii. 179 In that green wene Kilmeny lay. 1820 Marmaiden of Clyde xvii, in Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. 6 423 A dowie sheen frae his austrous een Gae licht to the dismal wane.] b. In the obscure alliterative phrase worthy (worshipful, wise) in wane. Cf. wone n.²The sense may have originally been ‘in the dwellings of men, among men’. Cf. similar uses of town n. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > good repute > reputability or honourableness > [adjective] faireOE wortheOE worthlyeOE worthfulOE menskful?c1225 toldc1275 digne1297 of price?a1300 worshiply1340 worthya1350 menska1375 thriftyc1374 worshipfula1375 worthilya1375 honesta1382 honourablec1384 unshamedc1384 sada1387 of reputationc1390 well-nameda1393 reverent1398 worthy (worshipful, wise) in wanea1400 celebrable?c1400 honouredc1400 worshipablec1425 substantialc1449 undefameda1450 unreviled?1457 honorousa1500 reputed?1532 well-thought-ona1533 well-spoken1539 credible1543 undespised?1548 imitable1550 famous1555 undistained1565 undefame1578 untarred1579 well-reputed1583 unsoiledc1592 dishonourless1595 well-deemed1595 nameworthy1598 regardful1600 indisgraced1606 credenta1616 undishonoureda1616 unscandalized1618 unscandalous1618 unslandered1622 untainted1627 dignousa1636 undisparaged1636 considerable1641 unbranded1641 glorifiable1651 reputable1671 unsullied1743 unstigmatized1778 undisgraced1812 unstained1863 well-thought-of1865 uncompromised1882 scandal-proof1904 cred1987 a1400 Sir Degrev. 433 Thane spekes that wis in-with wane, ‘Ye have well good mene y-slayne.’ c1400 Anturs of Arth. xiii ‘Welecome, Waynour!’ scho says, ‘þou worthye in wane!’ ?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 2514 Slyke monkes haue I knawen and sene, Þat..had mare grace of prophecy Þan euer hider to had I; Amang þe whilk boysil was ane, Þe maste wirschipful man in wane. c1650 (a1500) Eger & Grime (Percy) (1933) 250 It is a lord most worthyest in waine, Erle Gares is his name. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021). † wanen.³ Forms: Middle English wene, Middle English wane, weane, Middle English wæne, wone, Middle English wan, woon. Etymology: perhaps an extension (? starting from the inflected forms) of Old English wéa weak masculine misery. The vowel of Old English wá ill, woe n., or of Old English wáwa weak masculine misery, may have influenced the forms, but compare fone , etc. extended forms of few adj., pron., and n. which are phonologically very similar. Obsolete. Misery, woe. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun] unselthc888 ermtheOE unselea1023 wellawayOE wretchhead1154 wandrethc1175 woec1175 wanea1200 wretchdom?c1225 yomernessc1250 balec1275 un-i-selec1275 wan-siðc1275 unseelinessa1300 wretchedheada1300 cursedness1303 wretcheddomc1320 wrechea1325 wretchnessa1330 tribulationc1330 wretchednessa1340 caitifty1340 meeknessa1382 unwealsomeness1382 infelicityc1384 caitifhedea1400 ill liking?a1400 sorea1400 ungleea1400 unweala1400 caitifnessc1400 deploration1490 caitifdoma1500 woefulnessa1513 misery1527 miserity1533 mishappinessa1542 unwealfulnessa1555 tribulance1575 miserableness1613 agony1621 desolatenessa1626 unblissa1628 unhappiness1722 misère1791 shadow1855 valley1882 miz1918 a1200 Moral Ode 151 in Old Eng. Hom. I. 169 Eure he walde her inne wawe and ine wene [v.r. wane] wunien, Wið þet he mihte helle pine bi-flien. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 91 Al þet flesc þuncheð sur oðer bitter þet is pine & wone & alle meoseise. c1230 Hali Meid. 9 Worldliche wunne þat tu wendes to biȝeten, ant hauest ifunden weane þrin, & wondraðe riue. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2820 Þeo cnihtes weoren vnwepned þa þe wæne heom wes ȝeueðe. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1102 & him-seolf mid wæne [c1300 Otho onneþe] ferde into ane watere. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1099 Heo stureden heora wepnan wane wes on folke. c1330 King of Tars 66 Jhesu,..Let me nevere that day isee A tiraunt for to take. For Marie love,..Arst yif him wan and wrake. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 419 Kyng Fortigern sat on Þe water side, and was wel ful of woon [L. Vortiger sedit anxius]. Compounds † wæn-slaht n. Obsolete slaughter. ΚΠ c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4747 Faren wit swullen to-somne & mid fehten hit to-dælen. makien wæn-slahtes. † wan-sið n. (also †wen-sið) Obsolete misery. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun] unselthc888 ermtheOE unselea1023 wellawayOE wretchhead1154 wandrethc1175 woec1175 wanea1200 wretchdom?c1225 yomernessc1250 balec1275 un-i-selec1275 wan-siðc1275 unseelinessa1300 wretchedheada1300 cursedness1303 wretcheddomc1320 wrechea1325 wretchnessa1330 tribulationc1330 wretchednessa1340 caitifty1340 meeknessa1382 unwealsomeness1382 infelicityc1384 caitifhedea1400 ill liking?a1400 sorea1400 ungleea1400 unweala1400 caitifnessc1400 deploration1490 caitifdoma1500 woefulnessa1513 misery1527 miserity1533 mishappinessa1542 unwealfulnessa1555 tribulance1575 miserableness1613 agony1621 desolatenessa1626 unblissa1628 unhappiness1722 misère1791 shadow1855 valley1882 miz1918 the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > tribulation, trouble, or affliction > state of misery wretchhead1154 uselldomc1175 wretchdom?c1225 yomernessc1250 wan-siðc1275 werea1300 wretchedheada1300 cursedness1303 wrechea1325 wretchnessa1330 wretchednessa1340 caitifty1340 miseryc1375 caitifhedea1400 languora1400 caitifnessc1400 deploration1490 caitifdoma1500 pitya1500 unkindness1502 woefulnessa1513 miserability1559 villainya1571 ungraciousness1578 miserableness1613 deplorableness1649 misère1791 dismals1829 unblessedness1836 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1542 & þu scalt worðen warchen. & wonien in wansiðe [c1300 Otho ine wowe]. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 271 Þa Grickes neoren noht warre of heore wensiðe [c1300 Otho mochele harme]. Derivatives † ˈwanliche adj. [-lich, -ly suffix¹] Obsolete miserable, wretched. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > miserable or wretched un-i-selieOE drearyOE unseelyOE wretcha1122 usellc1175 unselea1200 wretcheda1200 misease?c1225 un-i-sele?c1250 wanlichec1275 miseasyc1300 wrackfulc1311 unblessed1340 wretchfula1382 wretchedful1382 caitiff1393 loddera1400 unhappena1400 pilledc1400 miserable?c1422 vengeablec1430 unhappyc1440 meschant?1473 miserousc1475 unselc1480 miser1542 forlorn1582 villainous1582 skybala1585 unblestful1608 despicable1635 haveless1868 the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > wretchedness > [adjective] unledeeOE sorryOE evila1131 usellc1175 wanlichec1275 bad1276 sorry1372 meana1375 caitiff1393 loddera1400 woefula1400 foulc1400 wretched1450 meschant?1473 unselc1480 peevisha1522 miser1542 scurvy?1577 forlorn1582 villainous1582 measled1596 lamented1611 thrallfula1618 despicable1635 deplorable1642 so-and-so1656 poorish1657 squalida1660 lamentable1676 mesquina1706 shan1714 execrable1738 quisby1807 hole in the wall1822 measly1847 bum1878 shag-bag1888 snidey1890 pathetic1900 the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [adjective] armlyeOE un-i-selieOE unledeeOE unseelyOE armOE wretcha1122 unselea1200 wretcheda1200 wretchlyc1200 misease?c1225 wanlichec1275 miseasyc1300 wansomea1325 simplec1330 wretchfula1382 wretchedful1382 caitiff1393 loddera1400 desolate14.. disconsolatea1425 meschant?1473 miserousc1475 miser1542 unvisited1548 tribulate1575 happiless1582 uncomforted1583 blisslessa1586 uncomfortless1598 miserablea1616 thrallfula1618 calamitous1668 tribulated1682 donsie?1719 unsolaced1796 mis1939 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15116 Nu we maȝen wepen mid wanliche i-beren. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12971 Þa six swin he gon æten alle... al biwaled on axen wanliche [c1300 Otho karfolle] weoren þa sonden. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021). † waneadj. Forms: Old English wana, wona (also wan, won), Middle English wone, won, woon, Middle English–1600s wane, Middle English vane, Middle English–1500s (1800s dialect) wan. Etymology: Old English wana , wǫna , usually indeclinable, rarely weak (also wan , wǫn , strong adjective) = Old Saxon, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Flemish wan , Old Norse van-r (compare want n.² and wan- prefix), Gothic wan-s < Germanic wano- , probably < Indogermanic root wā- as in Latin vānus vain adj. and n. Obsolete. 1. Lacking, absent, deficient. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective] > deficient or wanting wanec825 thurfec1175 lacking1480 indigent1531 defect1543 awanting1583 missed1584 wanting1592 defective1603 wanted1619 half-baked1627 deficient1632 manqué1773 c825 Vesp. Ps. xxii[i]. 1 Nowiht me wonu bið [L. nihil mihi deerit]. 971 Blickl. Hom. 131 Ærþon þe he [sc. Drihten] on heofenas astige, þonon he næfre won wæs þurh his god~cundnesse miht. c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xix. 20 Eall þis ic geheold; hwæt is me gyt wana? c1175 Lamb. Hom. 75 Þe Mon þet haueð þis ilke fif þing mid him he is leful Mon, and, if him is eni þer of wane, he nis nawiht alse leful alse him bi-houede. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 23 Nis nan good wane þer as þeos þreo beoð. Michte. & wisdom & luue Imenged to gederes. a1300 Cursor Mundi 22846 For al welth sal þam be wan [Gött., Fairf. wane, Trin. wone]. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3353 Tidlike hem was ðat water wane. a1325 Maudelain 299 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 299 When it no milk gete miȝt, Þe fader..seyd, ‘allas, hir fode is wane’. c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8329 Let now no god wille be wane, Bot help to venge my fader bane! 1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 30 And qwo-so be wane, schal paye a pound of wax. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 20056 Qua hertili hers or redis hit, Of ur leuedi and sant iohn, þair beniscun þan bes not wan [Gött., Trin. Cambr. won]. c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 493 For he ȝerned ȝelpyng to here; Thaȝ hym wordeȝ were wane when þay to sete wenten. c1400 26 Pol. Poems ii. 61 Me thenkeþ þere wit is wane To stroiȝe the hony. c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 515/1 Wane, or wantynge, absens, deessens. c1475 Mankind 412 in Macro Plays 16 He [Mercy] hath taught Mankynde, wyll I [Myscheff] haue be vane, To fyght manly a-geyn hys fon. a1529 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte (?1545) 917 Ye must weare bukram, Or canuas of Cane, For sylkes are wane. 2. Destitute of. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > non-possession > [adjective] > devoid of something > lacking or without wane971 quit?c1225 helpless1362 desolatec1386 wantsomea1400 ungirtc1412 voidc1420 wantinga1475 destitutea1500 unfurnished1541 defect1543 bankrupt1567 frustrate1576 wanting1580 wanting1592 sterile1642 minus1807 lacking1838 to be stuck up for1860 short1873 wanting1874 quits1885 light1936 971 Blickl. Hom. 17 He bið wana þæs ecan leohtes. OE Crist I 270 Us ær þurh synlust se swearta gæst forteah ond fortylde, þæt we, tires wone, a butan ende sculon ermþu dreogan. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 73 He nis noht fulliche cristene mon þet is awiht wone of þisse þreo þing. c1430 Christ's own Complaint 427 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 217 Alle bestes..In kindeli worchinge ben durable Saaf oonly I, of wittis wan. 3. With numerals, etc.: Short of. Used to express numbers (one or two) less than a complete decade. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > plurality > fewness > [adjective] > fewer wanec900 lessa1387 c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. iii. xxiv. (Schipper) 311 Oþ þæt hyræ daga rim gefylled wæs, þæt is anes geares wana [v.rr. won(a) þe] syxtigra wintra. a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 972 He wæs þa ana wana .xxx. wintra. a1225 Leg. Kath. 67 A meiden swiðe ȝung of ȝeres twa wone of twenti. 13.. Evang. Nicod. 419 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen 53 399 Ane wane of fourty strakes with yherd he sall be smyten. c1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 22 Þe gude herde, þat lefte in þe munte ane wane of a hundrez sep and yede at seke þis ane þ^t was want. a1500 Anc. Sc. Prophecy in Bernardus de Cura Rei Famuliaris 32 Be the yheris of cryst comyn and gone, Fully nynty ande nyne, nocht one wone. 4. Incomplete; not fully formed, or properly shaped. Of the moon: Not full. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > [adjective] > not fully formed unshapenc1350 wanec1485 unshaped1572 unmade1578 semi-formed1828 the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > [adjective] > full > not wanec1485 c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 70 Quhen jt [sc. the moon] is full, all thingis..ar mare forssy..na quhen jt is wane. a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 206 Wan wraiglane wasp. 1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word) A wan tree is a tree that has not grown in a circular form, or that is not filled up on one side. 5. Insufficient, (too) small. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective] insuffisant1387 unsufficient1398 over-little?a1400 unsuffisantc1400 unthankful1491 insufficienta1513 wanec1540 incompetent1611 under1673 c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3046 Hir nose for the nonest was nobly shapyn,..Nawther to wyde ne to wan, but as hom well semyt. 1624 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1878) III. 164 [They] buye thair staiple guids quhen the samin does come to the staiple port at ane wane mercatt. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021). wanev. Brit. /weɪn/, U.S. /weɪn/ Forms: Inflected waned, waning. Forms: α. Old English wanian, Middle English wanie-n, Middle English wanye, Middle English ? wanȝe, Middle English–1600s wayne, Middle English wan, 1500s–1600s waine, 1500s–1800s wain, 1600s wean, Middle English– wane. β. Old English wonian, Middle English wone. Also with prefix, Old English ȝe-, Middle English i-. Etymology: Old English wanian (wǫnian ) weak verb to lessen (transitive and intransitive) = Old Frisian wonia , Middle Dutch waenen , wanen , Old Saxon wanon , Old High German wanôn , wanên (Middle High German wanen ), intransitive, Old Norse vana transitive, vana-sk to grow less (Norwegian vana to spoil, waste), Gothic wanan (compare wanains* loss, ἤττημα , Romance xi. 12) < Old Germanic wanōjan , wanǣian , < wano- lacking, wane adj. I. intransitive. To grow less, decrease. (Opposed to wax.) 1. a. To decrease in size or extent; to dwindle. Now rare. †Also with pleonastic complement, to wane less, too little. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > become reduced in size or extent [verb (intransitive)] narrowOE waneOE smallOE slakec1380 welk1390 fade1398 lessenc1400 minish?a1425 decay1489 adminisha1500 diminish1520 to grow downwards?1523 ungrow1598 scant1607 settlea1642 to run off1765 dwarf1776 comminute1850 downsize1977 OE Beowulf* 1607 Þa þæt sweord ongan æfter heaþoswate hildegicelum, wigbil wanian. c1290 St. Brendan 342 in S. Eng. Leg. 229 Ich wondri houȝ þis taperes bernez þus: and ne waniez nouȝt. a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4772 Þis was a wondir~full werk..þat þai [two trees] suld wax soo & wane within a wale time. 14.. 26 Pol. Poems xix. 44 Þy vices waxen moo, And þy vertues wanen lesse. 1584 R. Greene Gwydonius f. 58^v The tree forthwith wayneth and wythereth. 1647 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Worse Times iii. x. 141 [A disease] Wherein the Head waxeth too great, whil'st the Legges, and lower parts waine too Little. 1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. I. 298 Fruits and animals wax and wane. 1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 444 That which grows is said to wax, and that which decays to wane. 1896 Black Horse Gaz. Jan. 8/2 When the width of an Empire may wax and enlarge Or shrivel and wane with the fate of a charge. †b. To decrease in number. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)] > decrease in quantity or number wane1297 moulter1643 moulder1650 thin1779 weed1877 1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 982 Þat hii hom ssolde vnder stonde & lene hom wimmen þat hii miȝte hor ospring eche so. Vor þing þat woneþ & noþing wexþ sone it worþ ido. c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 1645 Now haue y lost kyng Moradas..And othre kynges manye..Now my folkes doþ þus wanye y-lost ys myn honour. †c. To grow less in quantity or volume. Of the sea, water: To subside, ebb. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > change in level of water > [verb (intransitive)] > recede or subside ebbOE wanec1290 withdrawa1300 run?a1425 the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > types of tide [verb (intransitive)] > ebb falleOE ebbOE wanec1290 reflow1429 to go out1595 to run out1608 refloat1632 c1290 St. Laurence 84 in S. Eng. Leg. 342 Þis tresour..ne schal neuere wanie, ake euere wexe faste. 1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum iii. xviii. (Tollemache MS.) Physiciens telleþ þat blood waneþ by age [L. sanguinem minui per ætatem]. 1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xiii. xxiii. (Tollemache MS.) Whan þe mone is in þe lower corse water begynneþ to wanye. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 496 How þat watterez wern woned & þe worlde dryed. c1440 York Myst. ix. 204 It [sc. the flood] is wanand, þis wate I wele. c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 70 The mannis harnis is full jn the full mone and at the full see, and wanis as the see. c1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 160 This great water seemes to flow and wane with ye wind but it does not Ebb and flow Like the sea with the tyde. 1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. i. 15 The snow, which had been for some time waning, had given way entirely under the fresh gale of the preceding night. The more distant hills, indeed, retained their snowy mantle, but all the open country was cleared. 2. Of the moon: To undergo the periodical decrease in the extent of its visible illuminated portion, characteristic of the second half of the lunation. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > pass through phase [verb (intransitive)] > wane wane971 wanzec1175 waste1600 971 Blickl. Hom. 17 Þonne se mona wanað, þonne tacnað he ure deaþlicnesse. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 129 Þe Mone wuneð & waxeð. & nis neauer studefest. c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1220 And vnder nethe hir feet. she hadde a moone Wexinge it was, and sholde wanye soone. c1440 Astron. Cal. (Ashm. 391) W^tyn it is an hoole which shew^t by similitude how þe moone wexeþ and wanȝeþ [? read wanzeþ: see Wanze v. 2]. 1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream i. i. 4 But oh, me thinks, how slow This old Moone wanes [printed waues; 1623 wanes]. 1601 Song of Mary in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign Elizabeth (1845) II. 428 Her sunne doth neuer clipse nor cloude; Her moone doth neuer wax nor wane. 1762 J. Kennedy Compl. Syst. Astron. Chronol. 728 The validity of the sacred writings never can be denied, while the moon shall encrease and wane. 1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. §232 From New Moon the illuminated portion of our satellite waxes, or increases in size, till Full Moon, and then wanes, or diminishes, to the next New Moon. 3. Of light, colour, luminous or coloured objects: To decrease in brilliance or splendour; to become faint or dim. Also (nonce-uses) with pleonastic complement, to wane faint, grey. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [verb (intransitive)] > become faint wanec1000 fade13.. faint1430 vade1471 languish?1510 relent1531 the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > grow dim or lose brightness [verb (intransitive)] dima1300 fade13.. appal1393 duskc1430 pallc1450 cloud1555 pale1822 wane1832 film1844 dull1862 gauze1876 c1000 Rule of Chrodegang xix Æfter þissum tidum sona cymð se æfensang..& þæs dæges leoht þonne eac wanoð. a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1107 Manege sædon þet hi on þam monan..mistlice tacna gesawon, & ongean cynde his leoman wexende & waniende. 1832 Ld. Tennyson Lady of Shalott iv, in Poems (new ed.) 16 The pale-yellow woods were waning. 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. v. vi. 323 It has waned faint and again waxed bright. 1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge x. 295 The light waned without, it grew dusk, became quite dark. 1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke II. xii. 185 The candles waned grey, and the great light streamed in through every crack and cranny. 1888 G. Meredith Reading of Earth 118 Remote they [sc. the stars] wane to gaze intense. figurative.1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. i. i. 6 The royal tournaments..which were, however, waning from their ancient lustre.1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §8. 445 The old splendour of her Court waned and disappeared. 4. a. Of a person, nation, institution: To decline in power, importance, prosperity, or renown. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition afalleOE wanec1000 fallOE ebba1420 to go backward?a1425 to go down?1440 decay1483 sink?a1513 delapsea1530 reel1529 decline1530 to go backwards1562 rue1576 droop1577 ruina1600 set1607 lapse1641 to lose ground1647 to go to pigs and whistles1794 to come (also go) down in the world1819 to peg out1852 to lose hold, one's balance1877 to go under1879 toboggan1887 slip1930 to turn down1936 c1000 West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 30 Hit gebyraþ þæt he weaxe, and þæt ic wanige. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13472 Þat heore uolc gon waxen and Bruttes gunnen wonien [c1300 Otho wanien]. a1300 Cursor Mundi 924 Iurselem was struid an [tan] þan can þair kingrik for to wan. c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1255 Þey wil waxe & we schal wanye. a1628 F. Greville Treat. Humane Learning lxviii, in Certaine Wks. (1633) 36 And as by artlesse Guides, States euer waine: So doe they where these vselesse dreamers reigne. a1633 T. Taylor God's Judgem. (1642) i. i. xvi. 51 This was the first shake that ever this kingdome received..whereby it began to waine and decline. 1678 J. Dryden All for Love iii. 31 I'm waining in his favor, yet I love him. 1690 J. Child Disc. Trade Pref. sig. B2^v The inseparable affinity that is..at all times between Land and Trade, which are Twins, and have always, and ever will wax and wane together. 1850 J. McCosh Method Divine Govt. (ed. 2) i. ii. 54 When Popery was waning in France in the days of Louis XIV. 1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun II. vii. 86 A people are waning to decay and ruin. 1868 W. Peard Pract. Water-farming i. 7 Pisciculture began to wane. 1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 122 Plato..had seen the Athenian empire..wax and wane. 1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest V. xxiv. 489 The ban took effect, because the institution was already waning. b. To decline in vigour, to age. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > be or seem old [verb (intransitive)] > grow old oldeOE eldc1175 to fall in (also to) agea1398 forlive1398 hoara1420 runa1425 age1440 veterate1623 senesce1656 olden1700 wane1821 to get on in years1822 senilize1841 1821 J. Galt Ann. Parish xxix. 252 Even Miss Sabrina Hookie,..though now waned from her meridian,..set herself to learn and to teach tambouring. 1899 J. Milne Romance of Pro-Consul xix. 208 Sir George Grey, as he waned under the growing load, realised that he and Greater Britain would be no more together. 5. Of qualities, conditions, activities, feelings, power, etc.: To become gradually less in degree, to decline in intensity, abate. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)] littleOE setc1000 wanzec1175 lessc1225 allayc1275 wane1297 slaken1303 disincreasec1374 slakec1380 decrease1382 debatea1400 unwaxa1400 wastea1400 adminishc1400 lessenc1400 imminish14.. aslakec1405 minish?a1425 assuagec1430 shrinkc1449 to let down1486 decay1489 diminish1520 fall1523 rebate1540 batea1542 to come down1548 abate1560 stoop1572 pine1580 slack1580 scanten1585 shrivel1588 decrew1596 remit1629 contract1648 subside1680 lower1697 relax1701 drop1730 to take off1776 to run down1792 reduce1798 recede1810 to run off1816 to go down1823 attenuatea1834 ease1876 downscale1945 the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > become less violent or severe [verb (intransitive)] > lose vigour or intensity swindOE wane1297 forslacka1300 keelc1325 deadc1384 abatea1387 flag1639 to go off1642 subsidea1645 slacken1651 flat1654 lower1699 relax1701 deaden1723 entame1768 sober1825 lighten1827 sletch1847 slow1849 languish1855 bate1860 to slow up1861 to slow down1879 1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 8488 Þat wiþinne was sorwe inou hor poer wanede vaste. a1340 R. Rolle Psalter Prol. All gladnes & delite of erth wanys & at þe last wytes til noght. 1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 3 And so my witte wex and wanyed til I a fole were. a1500 R. Henryson Ressoning betuix Aige & Yowth 63 in Poems (1981) 173 Thy wittis fyve sall wane, thocht thow nocht wald. 1599 J. Hayward 1st Pt. Henrie IIII 140 Whilest the one Kings power was waining, and the other not yet fullye wexen. 1649 C. Wase tr. Sophocles Electra 10 Nor waynes my grief, but still encreases more. 1655 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 1st Pt. 290 But let it [sc. our obedience] seem to wain in any service or duty, then the Jordan of our faith flies back. 1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the First 11 How wanes my borrow'd bliss? 1825 C. Lamb Wedding in Elia 2nd Ser. The infinity of full satisfaction..began to wane into something of misgiving. 1833 T. Chalmers On Power Wisdom & Goodness of God I. i. 79 This sense of a universal law..never waned into total extinction among the tribes of ferocious and untamed wanderers. 1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. I. i. 161 The influence which his good private character..once gave him had been rapidly waning. 1903 M. L. Bruce Anna Swanwick v. 184 The precious hours passed, and the still more precious physical strength waned. 1909 E. H. Burton Life Bp. Challoner II. xxxiv. 270 Gradually his enthusiasm for the Protestant cause waned. 6. Of a period of time: To draw to its close.Usually with some notion of sense 3 or 5. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > be at an end [verb (intransitive)] > approach the end wane1590 to grow to wastea1616 to draw in1769 to draw by1850 1590 in W. Segar Honor Mil. & Civill (1602) iii. liv. 198 But spurnd in vaine, youth waineth by encreasing. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. iii. 57 As I walked but slowly, the night waned apace. 1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc x. 186 But soon the night wain'd on, And the loud trumpets' blare from broken sleep Roused them. 1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions iv. §5. 405 A solitary genus of Australia..whose term of existence seems fast waning to its close. 1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxxvi. 361 The day waned into a gloomy evening, overcast and sad. 1865 M. E. Braddon Sir Jasper iii The summer waned slowly, very slowly for that quiet dweller in Scarsdale Hermitage. 1903 ‘S. G. Tallentyre’ Life Voltaire (1905) vii. 80 The year waned in such studies. II. transitive. To cause to decrease. †7. To lessen, diminish, abridge (a privilege, right, etc.). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > curtail wanea889 dockc1380 bridgec1384 abridgea1393 limita1398 syncopec1412 defalk1475 shortena1535 to cut short?1542 royn1573 retrench1587 curtail1589 retranch1589 lop1594 scantle1596 scant1599 scantelize1611 curtalize1622 defalce1651 detrench1655 barb1657 defalcatea1690 razee1815 detruncate1846 to cut down1857 shave1898 the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > annul, cancel, revoke [verb (transitive)] > make void or invalid wanea889 voida1340 avoidc1375 abolishc1475 disnull1509 disannula1513 annihilate1525 evacuate1526 aniente1528 extinct1530 disable1548 extinguish1548 solute1550 destitutea1563 exinanitea1575 cashier1596 devoid1601 shorta1616 supersede1618 vitiate1627 invalidate1649 out1653 vacate1662 exinanitiate1698 atheticize1701 squasha1777 invalid1827 negate1837 negative1837 unsanction1854 cancel- a889 Charter of Ælfred in Sweet Old Eng. Texts 452 Ond swa hwylc mon swa hio wonie & breoce, gewonie him god almahtig his weorldare ond ea[c] swa his sawle are. OE Riddle 20 33 Oft ic wirum dol wife abelge, wonie hyre willan. c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Þe oreguil and þe wraððe of kinges and of barones..wurreð uppe chirches oðer wanieð hire rihtes. 1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii^v I aught as prynce him to prise for his prouese That wanyt noght my wourschip as he y^t al wan. a1628 F. Greville Treat. Humane Learning cxvii, in Certaine Wks. (1633) 45 And of these Arts it may be said againe, That since their Theoricke is infinite; Of infinite there can no Artes remaine... Their Theoricke then must not waine their vse. †8. To empty, render vacant. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > leave unoccupied [verb (transitive)] > make unoccupied wanec1200 evacuate1607 untenant1640 vacant1649 unstock1655 disnesta1700 to clean out1858 distenant1876 c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 33 Ðos word sede þe angel for þat man sholde fuluullen englene sete þe was er iwaned þo þe lucifer and his ferreden fellen ut þarof. †9. To come short of, lack. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > non-possession > not have [verb (transitive)] > lack wantc1175 missa1300 tharnc1300 to fail of1307 lackc1320 fault1377 failc1380 wanea1400 defaultc1425 to want ofc1425 walter1463 fault?1504 to defail of1556 to want for1560 scant1565 inlaik1568 impaira1626 to bate of1633 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12196 Bot þai are..Als a chim or brasin bell, þat noþer can vnderstand ne tell Wat takens þair aun sune, þat witt bath wanis and resune. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4291 Quen hert has þat it will wiss þe bodi mai haue namar bliss, Ne namar wa þan will to wan. 10. a. to wane away: to cause to wane away, to diminish gradually. Also reflexive of the moon (nonce-use), to wane away. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (transitive)] > gradually to wane away1601 dwindlea1661 the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > reduce gradually to wane away1601 wear1697 wean1707 whittle1736 to tail off (out)1827 to ease off1884 to taper off (away, down)1898 to run down1960 to wind down1969 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxiv. xv. 198 Speciall remedie for ruptures, convulsions, and pleurisies: it waneth away the overgrowne splene. 1797 A. Seward Lett. (1811) V. 4 Proud once and princely was the mansion, ere a succession of spendthrifts waned away its splendour. 1867 J. Ingelow Tired iv And let that moon of April wane itself away. b. To cause (the moon) to wane.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > pass through phase [verb (transitive)] > cause to wane wane1904 1904 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 46 The hidden hand which wanes the moon and ebbs the tide. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.¹c888n.²a1225n.³a1200adj.c825v.a889
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wanen.1

† wanen.2

† wanen.3

Compounds

Derivatives

† waneadj.

wanev.

wanen.¹

† wanen.²

† wanen.³