Link Centre Dictionary

wean

UK/ˈwiː(ə)n/ US/ˈweɪ(ə)n/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

gradually deprive (infants) of mother''s milk

  • “she weaned her baby when he was 3 months old and started him on powdered milk”
Synonyms
2.

detach the affections of

Origin

From Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian (“to accustom; habituate; train; prepare; make fit”), from Proto-West Germanic *wannjan, from Proto-Germanic *wanjaną (“to make wont; accustom”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive for; wish; love”). Cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Danish vænne, Swedish vänja, Icelandic venja. Related via PIE to wone, wont, and wonder, and perhaps win.

Related words

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Broader terms

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.