Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Anglo-Norman weyver, from waif, from Old Norse veif (flag); equivalent to weif +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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weyven

  1. To decide not to engage in or with something; to ignore one's right to do something:
    1. To refuse to perform a task or job or take on a duty.
    2. To waive, renounce or reject something; to give up or go without. (e.g. a cause, a luxury, or a plot of land)
    3. To abscond; to sign out or relieve oneself.
  2. To avoid or to resist engaging in something:
    1. To withstand attack or tempting; to remain unbroken or resistant.
    2. To escape from something; to elude or remain unfindable.
  3. To block; to prevent:
    1. To dismiss; to send away or drive away.
    2. To eliminate, to get rid of or purge.
    3. To deem illegal; to declare someone to be a criminal.
    4. To distract; to stop from entering.
  4. To facilitate the passage of something to someone.
  5. To surrender; to admit or acknowledge defeat.
Conjugation
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Quotations
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  • c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Manciple’s Tale:
    Lat take a cat, and fostre hym wel with milk, / And tendre flessh, and make his couche of silk, / And lat hym seen a mous go by the wal, / Anon he weyveth milk and flessh and al […].
    (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Descendants
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  • English: waive
  • Scots: wave (obsolete)
References
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Etymology 2

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From Old Norse veifa, from Proto-Germanic *waibijaną.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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weyven

  1. To shake, waver or totter; to move to and fro:
    1. To dangle; to sway to and fro while suspended.
    2. To move about; to travel aimlessly or erratically.
    3. (figurative, rare) To be easily convinced to change course; to be uncertain.
  2. To cause to shake, waver or totter; to push around:
    1. (rare) To open, to lift up.
    2. (figurative, rare) To make oneself distracted.
Conjugation
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Descendants
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References
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