Wiktionary

wane

See also: Wane and wáne

English edit

WOTD – 4 September 2008

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle English wane, from Old English wana (“defect, shortage”), from Proto-West Germanic *wanō, from Proto-Germanic *wanô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to leave, abandon; empty, deserted”).

Cognates
See also wan-, want, and waste. Compare also Dutch waan (“insanity”) and German Wahn (“insanity”) deprecated defect, Old Norse vanr (“lacking”) ( > Danish prefix van-, only found in compounds), Latin vanus, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃 (wans, “missing, lacking”), Albanian vonë (“late, futile, mentally retarded”), Armenian ունայն (unayn, “empty”), Old Saxon and Old High German wanon (“to decrease”), Modern Dutch weinig (“a few”), Modern German weniger (“less”), comparative of wenig (“few”) (-ig being a derivate suffix; -er the suffix of comparatives). Doublet of vain, vaunt, vaniloquent, vast, vacuum, vacant, vacate, which are Latin-derived, via the PIE root.

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. A gradual diminution in power, value, intensity etc.
    • 1853, Herman Melville, "Bartleby, the Scrivener," in Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories, New York: Penguin, 1968; reprinted 1995 as Bartleby, →ISBN, p. 3,
      In the morning, one might say, his face was of a fine florid hue, but after twelve o'clock, meridian -- his dinner hour -- it blazed like a grate full of Christmas coals; and continued blazing -- but, as it were, with a gradual wane -- till six o'clock, PM, or thereabouts; after which, I saw no more of the proprietor of the face, [...].
    • 1913, Michael Ott, The Catholic Encyclopedia, "Wenzel Anton Kaunitz",
      His influence which was on the wane during the reign of Joseph II grew still less during the reign of Leopold II (1790-2).
  2. The lunar phase during which the sun seems to illuminate less of the moon as its sunlit area becomes progressively smaller as visible from Earth.
    • 1906, James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, volume 2, page 133:
      Some French peasants also prefer to sow in the wane.
    • 1926, H. P. Lovecraft, The Moon-Bog:
      It was very dark, for although the sky was clear the moon was now well in the wane, and would not rise till the small hours.
  3. (literary) The end of a period.
     
    Wane siding on a cabin at S.B. Elliott State Park
  4. (woodworking) A rounded corner caused by lack of wood, often showing bark.
    • 2002, Peter Ross, Appraisal and Repair of Timber Structures, p. 11,
      Sapwood, or even bark, may appear on the corners, or may have been cut off, resulting in wane, or missing timber.
Usage notes edit
  • When referring to the moon or a time period, the word is found mostly in prepositional phrases like in or on the wane.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle English wanen, wanien, from Old English wanian, wonian, from Proto-West Germanic *wanōn, from Proto-Germanic *wanōną.

Verb edit

wane (third-person singular simple present wanes, present participle waning, simple past and past participle waned)

  1. (intransitive) To progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc.; to decline.
    • 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
      You saw but sorrow in its waning form.
    • 1668, Sir Josiah Child, A New Discourse of Trade:
      Land and trade ever will wax and wane together.
    • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Chapter 118”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
      I have sat before the dense coal fire and watched it all aglow, full of its tormented flaming life; and I have seen it wane at last, down, down, to dumbest dust.
    • 1902, John Masefield, The Golden City of St. Mary:
      And in the cool twilight when the sea-winds wane […]
    • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
      And so it had always pleased M. Stutz to expect great things from the dark young man whom he had first seen in his early twenties ; and his expectations had waxed rather than waned on hearing the faint bruit of the love of Ivor and Virginia—for Virginia, M. Stutz thought, would bring fineness to a point in a man like Ivor Marlay, […].
    • 2022 September 30, Rebecca Ratcliffe, “Anger after Thai court rules 2014 coup leader can carry on as PM”, in The Guardian‎[1], Guardian News & Media Limited:
      His popularity, however, has waned, say analysts.
  2. (intransitive) Said of light that dims or diminishes in strength.
  3. (intransitive, astronomy) Said of the Moon as it passes through the phases of its monthly cycle where its surface is less and less visible.
    • 1866, Sabine Baring-Gould, “The Man in the Moon”, in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages:
      The fall of Jack, and the subsequent fall of Jill, simply represent the vanishing of one moon-spot after another, as the moon wanes.
  4. (intransitive) Said of a time period that comes to an end.
  5. (intransitive, archaic) To decrease physically in size, amount, numbers or surface.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to decrease.
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Etymology 3 edit

From Scots wean.

Alternative forms edit

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. (Scotland, slang) A child.

Etymology 4 edit

From Middle English wōne, wāne (“dwelling," "custom”), of unclear origins, compare wont.

Alternative forms edit

  • wone (Southern England)

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. (chiefly Northern England and Scotland, obsolete) A house or dwelling.

Anagrams edit

Dutch edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋaː.nə/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: wa‧ne

Etymology 1 edit

Uncertain. Compare Sranan Tongo wana.

Noun edit

wane c (uncountable)

  1. (Suriname) A type of South American tree that produces hardwood, Sextonia rubra.

Etymology 2 edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb edit

wane

  1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of wanen

Fula edit

Etymology edit

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

Noun edit

wane nge (plural bani)

  1. (Pular) a cow with a brown hide

References edit

Middle Dutch edit

Verb edit

wâne

  1. inflection of wânen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive

Middle English edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Old English wana, wona (noun) and wan, won (noun), related to wanian (“to diminish”).

Noun edit

wane (uncountable)

  1. penury, deprivation, neediness
  2. lack, absence
  3. diminution
Alternative forms edit
Descendants edit
  • English: wane
  • Scots: wane, waine

References edit

Etymology 2 edit

Probably from Old English wēan or wēana, oblique cases of wēa (“woe, grief, misery”).

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. woeful, miserable state; adversity; misfortune
  2. affliction, tribulation
  3. destruction
Alternative forms edit
Descendants edit

References edit

Etymology 3 edit

From Old English wana, wona (adjective) and wan, won (adjective), related to wanian (“to diminish”).

Adjective edit

wane

  1. inadequate, incomplete, imperfect
  2. lacking, missing, absent
Alternative forms edit
Descendants edit

References edit

Etymology 4 edit

Noun edit

wane (uncountable)

  1. (Northern) Alternative form of vein

Etymology 5 edit

Adverb edit

wane

  1. Alternative form of fain

Etymology 6 edit

Adjective edit

wane

  1. Alternative form of wan

Etymology 7 edit

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. (Northern, Early Middle English) Alternative form of wone (“dwelling”)

Etymology 8 edit

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. (Northern) Alternative form of wone (“course”)

Etymology 9 edit

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. Alternative form of wain (“wagon”)

Etymology 10 edit

Noun edit

wane (plural wanes)

  1. Alternative form of veine (“vein”)

Etymology 11 edit

Verb edit

wane (third-person singular simple present waneth, present participle wanende, wanynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle waned)

  1. Alternative form of wanen

Etymology 12 edit

Adverb edit

wane

  1. Alternative form of whenne

Conjunction edit

wane

  1. Alternative form of whenne

Etymology 13 edit

Verb edit

wane

  1. Alternative form of wanne: singular simple past of winnen
  2. Alternative form of wonnen: plural simple past of winnen

Etymology 14 edit

Adverb edit

wane

  1. Alternative form of whanne

Conjunction edit

wane

  1. Alternative form of whanne
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