a merger of two M.E. verbs: 1. awaken, from O.E. awæcnan (earlier onwæcnan; strong, past tense awoc, pp. awacen) "to awake, arise," from a "on" + wacan "to arise, become awake" (see
wake (v.)); and 2. awakien, from O.E. awacian (weak, p.p. awacode), from a "on"