WEAN

wean, ablactate

(verb) gradually deprive (infants and young mammals) of mother’s milk; “she weaned her baby when he was 3 months old and started him on powdered milk”; “The kitten was weaned and fed by its owner with a bottle”

wean

(verb) detach the affections of

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

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; to accustom and reconcile (a child or young animal) to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder.

(intransitive) To cease to depend on the mother for nourishment.

(transitive, by extension) To cause to quit something to which one is addicted or habituated.

(intransitive, by extension) To cease to depend.

Etymology 2

Noun

wean (plural weans)

(Scotland, Ulster) A small child.

Anagrams

• Ewan, Newa, anew, wane

Source: Wiktionary


Wean, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Weaned; p. pr. & vb. n. Weaning.] Etym: [OE. wenen, AS. wenian, wennan, to accustom; akin to D. wennen, G. gewöhnen, OHG. giwennan, Icel. venja, Sw. vänja, Dan. vænne, Icel. vanr accustomed, wont; cf. AS. awenian to wean, G. entwöhnen. See Wont, a.]

1. To accustom and reconcile, as a child or other young animal, to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder; to cause to cease to depend on the mother nourishment. And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. Gen. xxi. 8.

2. Hence, to detach or alienate the affections of, from any object of desire; to reconcile to the want or loss of anything. "Wean them from themselves." Shak. The troubles of age were intended . . . to wean us gradually from our fondness of life. Swift.

Wean, n.

Definition: A weanling; a young child. I, being but a yearling wean. Mrs. Browning.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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