wean

English

Pronunciation

enPR: wēn, IPA: /wiːn/, X-SAMPA: /wi:n/
Rhymes: -iːn

Etymology 1

Old English wenian.

Verb

wean (third-person singular simple present weans, present participle weaning, simple past and past participle weaned)

(transitive) To cease giving milk to an offspring.
The cow has weaned her calf.
(transitive) To quit from something to which one is addicted or habituated.
He managed to wean himself off heroin.
(intransitive) To cease to depend on the mother for nourishment.
The kittens are finally weaning.
(intransitive) To cease to depend.
She is weaning from her addiction to tobacco.

Translations

to cease giving milk

Czech: odstavit (cs)
Finnish: vieroittaa (fi)
French: sevrer (fr)
German: abstillen (de)
Greek: απογαλακτίζω (el) (apogalaktízo)
Portuguese: desmamar (pt)

Quechua: hanuk'ay (qu)
Russian: отнимать от груди (ru) (otnimát' ot grudí) impf., отнять от груди (ru) (otnját' ot grudí) pf., отлучать (ru) (otlučát') impf., отлучить (ru) (otlučít') pf.
Spanish: destetar (es)

to cease to depend on the mother for nourishment

Dutch: spenen
Finnish: vieroittua (fi)
Greek: απογαλακτίζομαι (el) (apogalaktízomai)
Japanese: 乳離れさせる (ja) (chichibanare saseru)

Macedonian: одвикнува (mk) (odvíknuva)
Russian: отучать от груди (ru) (otučát' ot grudí) impf., отучить от груди (ru) (otučít' ot grudí) pf., (any dependency) отучать (ru) (otučát') impf., отучить (ru) (otučít') pf.

to cease to depend

Dutch: ontwennen (nl)
Finnish: vieroittua (fi)
Japanese: やめさせる (ja) (yame saseru)
Macedonian: се одвикнува (mk) (se odvíknuva)

Russian: (breastfeeding) отвыкать от груди (ru) (otvykát' ot grudí) impf., отвыкнуть от груди (ru) (otvýknut' ot grudí) pf., (any dependency) отвыкать (ru) (otvykát') impf., отвыкнуть (ru) (otvýknut') pf.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: sevrer
German: entwöhnen
Ido: ablaktar
Italian: svezzare

Norwegian: avvenne
Novial: ablakta
Spanish: desahijar
Swedish: avvänja

Etymology 2

Blend of wee and ane.

Noun

wean (plural weans)

(Scotland) A small child.
- 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, p. 92:
  Pigs, cows and sheep and wee ducks, that was what he bought and it was just for weans and wee lasses. I said it to my maw.
  
  Oh it is not weans it is children. Oh Kieron, it is children and girls, do not say weans and lasses.
- Elizabeth Browning
  I, being but a yearling wean.