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Webster 1913 Edition
Wean
Wean
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Weaned
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Weaning
.] [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. āwenian
to wean, G. entwöhnen
. See Wont
, Adj.
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
,Noun.
A weanling; a young child.
I, being but a yearling
wean
. Mrs. Browning.
Webster 1828 Edition
Wean
WEAN
,Verb.
T.
1.
To accustom and reconcile, as a child or other young animal, to a want or deprivation of the breast.And the child grew, and was weaned. Genesis 21.
2.
To detach or alienate, as the affections, from any object of desire; to reconcile to the want or loss of any thing; as, to wean the heart from temporal enjoyments.