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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

yearn

–verb (used without object)

1.	to have an earnest or strong desire; long: to yearn for a quiet vacation.

2.	to feel tenderness; be moved or attracted: They yearned over their delicate child.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME yernen, OE giernan deriv. of georn eager; akin to ON girna to desire, Gk chaírein to rejoice, Skt háryati (he) desires

]

—Related forms

yearner, noun

—Synonyms 1. Yearn, long, hanker, pine all mean to feel a powerful desire for something. Yearn stresses the depth and passionateness of a desire: to yearn to get away and begin a new life; to yearn desperately for recognition. Long implies a wholehearted desire for something that is or seems unattainable: to long to relive one's childhood; to long for the warmth of summer. Hanker suggests a restless or incessant craving to fulfill some urge or desire: to hanker for a promotion; to hanker after fame and fortune. Pine adds the notion of physical or emotional suffering as a result of the real or apparent hopelessness of one's desire: to pine for one's native land; to pine for a lost love.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Yearn

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

yearn Audio Help (yûrn) Pronunciation Key
intr.v. yearned, yearn·ing, yearns

To have a strong, often melancholy desire.
To feel deep pity, sympathy, or tenderness: yearned over the child's fate.

[Middle English yernen, from Old English geornan, giernan; see gher-² in Indo-European roots.]

yearn'er n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
yearn

O.E. geornan (Mercian), giernan (W.Saxon), giorna (Northumbrian), from P.Gmc. *gernijanan (cf. Goth. gairnjan "to desire," Ger. begehren "to desire"), from base *gernaz (cf. O.H.G. gern, O.N. gjarn "desirous," O.E. georn "eager, desirous," Ger. gern "gladly, willingly"), from PIE base *gher- "to like, want" (see horatory).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

yearn
verb
1.	desire strongly or persistently [syn: hanker]
2.	have a desire for something or someone who is not present; "She ached for a cigarette"; "I am pining for my lover" [syn: ache]
3.	have affection for; feel tenderness for

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
yearn [jəːn] verb

to feel a great desire; to long
Example: to yearn for an end to the war

Arabic:	يَتوقُ إلى
Chinese (Simplified):	渴望
Chinese (Traditional):	渴望
Czech:	toužit
Danish:	længes
Dutch:	hunkeren
Estonian:	igatsema
Finnish:	kaivata
French:	aspirer à
German:	sich sehnen
Greek:	ποθώ, λαχταρώ
Hungarian:	sóvárog (vmi után)
Icelandic:	þrá
Indonesian:	menginginkan
Italian:	anelare, desiderare

Japanese:	切望する
Korean:	갈망하다
Latvian:	ilgoties; skumt (pēc kaut kā)
Lithuanian:	trokšti, ilgėtis
Norwegian:	lengte (inderlig)
Polish:	tęsknić
Portuguese (Brazil):	ansiar
Portuguese (Portugal):	ansiar
Romanian:	a tânji după
Russian:	жаждать
Slovak:	túžiť
Slovenian:	hrepeneti
Spanish:	anhelar
Swedish:	längta, trängta
Turkish:	özlemek, gözünde tütmek

See also: yearning

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Yearn

Earn\, v. t. & i. [See 1st Yearn.] To grieve. [Obs.]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Yearn

Earn\, v. i. [See 4th Yearn.] To long; to yearn. [Obs.]

And ever as he rode, his heart did earn To prove his puissance in battle brave. --Spenser.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Yearn

Erme\, v. i. [OE. ermen, AS. yrman. Cf. Yearn.] To grieve; to feel sad. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Yearn

Yearn\ (y[~e]rn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Yearned; p. pr. & vb. n. Yearning.] [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr, Goth. arms. The y- in English is perhaps due to the AS. ge (see Y-).] To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Obs.] "She laments, sir, for it, that it would yearn your heart to see it." --Shak.

It yearns me not if men my garments wear. --Shak.

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