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waning

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wane

  [weyn] verb, waned, wan⋅ing, noun
Use waning in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to decrease in strength, intensity, etc.: Daylight waned, and night came on. Her enthusiasm for the cause is waning.
2. to decline in power, importance, prosperity, etc.: Colonialism began to wane after World War II.
3. to draw to a close; approach an end: Summer is waning.
4. (of the moon) to decrease periodically in the extent of its illuminated portion after the full moon. Compare wax 2 (def. 2).
–noun
5. a gradual decrease or decline in strength, intensity, power, etc.
6. the drawing to a close of life, an era, a period, etc.
7. the waning of the moon.
8. a period of waning.
9. a defect in a plank or board characterized by bark or insufficient wood at a corner or along an edge, due to the curvature of the log.
—Idiom
10. on the wane, decreasing; diminishing: The popularity of that song is on the wane.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME wanen (v.), OE wanian to lessen; c. MD, MHG wanen, ON vana to cause to wane, destroy

Synonyms:
1, 2. diminish, fail, sink. 5. diminution; failure, decay.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Weaning
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wane   (wān)   
intr.v.   waned, wan·ing, wanes

  1. To decrease gradually in size, amount, intensity, or degree; decline.

  2. To exhibit a decreasing illuminated area from full moon to new moon.

  3. To approach an end.

n.  

  1. The act or process of gradually declining or diminishing.

    1. A time or phase of gradual decrease.

    2. The period of the decrease of the moon's illuminated visible surface.

  3. A defective edge of a board caused by remaining bark or a beveled end.


[Middle English wanen, from Old English wanian; see euə- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wane 
O.E. wanian "make or become smaller gradually," from P.Gmc. *wanojanan (cf. O.S. wanon, O.N. vana, O.Fris. wania, M.Du. waenen, O.H.G. wanon "to wane, to grow less"), from *wano- "lacking," from PIE *we-no-, from base *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out" (see vain).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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