Link Centre Dictionary

wither

wit·her

UK/ˈwɪðə/ US/ˈwɪðə/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

wither, especially with a loss of moisture

  • “The fruit dried and shriveled”
Synonyms
2.

lose freshness, vigor, or vitality

  • “Her bloom was fading”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English widren, wydderen (“to dry up, shrivel”), related to or perhaps an alteration of Middle English wederen (“to expose to weather”), from Old English wederian (“to expose to weather, exhibit a change of weather”). Cognates From Proto-Germanic: Dutch verwederen, Dutch verweren (“to erode by weather”), German verwittern, wittern (“to be ruined by weather; to erode”), Swedish vittra (“wither”). More at weather.

Phrases

  • wither away
  • wither on the vine

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

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.