verb (used with object)
Verb phrases 1.
to accustom (a child or young animal) to food other than its mother's milk; cause to lose the need to suckle or turn to the mother for food.
2.
to withdraw (a person, the affections, one's dependency, etc.) from some object, habit, form of enjoyment, or the like: The need to reduce had weaned us from rich desserts.
3.
wean on, to accustom to; to familiarize with from, or as if from, childhood: a brilliant student weaned on the classics; suburban kids weaned on rock music.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English wenen, Old English wenian; cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Old Norse venja to accustom
before 1000; Middle English wenen, Old English wenian; cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Old Norse venja to accustom
Related forms
nɪd post·wean·ing, adjective
pre·wean·ing, adjective
un·weaned, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To wean
00:10
Wean
is a GRE word you need to know.
So is pyre. Does it mean:
| A heap of combustibles arranged for burning a dead body. |
| bite or chew on, esp. persistently |
Collins
World English Dictionary
wean1 (wiːn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to cause (a child or young mammal) to replace mother's milk by other nourishment |
| 2. | ( |
| [Old English wenian to accustom; related to German gewöhnen to get used to] | |
| 'weaning1 | |
| —n | |
| wean2 (weɪn, wiːn) | |
| —n | |
| dialect (Scot), (Northern English) a child; infant | |
| [a contraction of wee ane or perhaps a shortened form of | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
wean
O.E. wenian "to accustom," from P.Gmc. *wanjanan (cf. O.N. venja, Du. wennen, O.H.G. giwennan, Ger. gewöhnen "to accustom"), from *wanaz "accustomed" (related to wont). The sense of weaning a child from the breast in O.E. was generally expressed by gewenian or awenian,
which has a sense of "unaccustom" (cf. Ger. abgewöhnen, entwöhnen "to wean," lit. "to unaccustom"). The prefix subsequently wore off. Figurative extension to any pursuit or habit is from 1526.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
wean (wēn)
v. weaned, wean·ing, weans
To deprive permanently of breast milk and begin to nourish with other food.
To accustom the young of a mammal to take nourishment other than by suckling.
To gradually withdraw from a life-support system.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary
Wean definition
Among the Hebrews children (whom it was customary for the mothers to nurse, Ex. 2:7-9; 1 Sam. 1:23; Cant. 8:1) were not generally weaned till they were three or four years old.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Advocates say plug-in hybrids are the best chance to address global warming and wean the nation from oil.
The focus of their outrage was methadone, a drug prescribed by doctors around the world to wean addicts from heroin.
And it has tried to wean music fans off free sites by backing fee-paying operations.
All three have been trying to wean themselves off lending.
Nearby Words
Related Questions
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
