wean
wean Lexical Profile
wean Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To accustom an infant or young mammal to take nourishment other than by nursing or suckling.
"The veterinarian explained when to wean the puppies onto solid food."
To cause someone to gradually give up a habit, dependency, or attachment (usually followed by 'off' or 'from').
"Doctors worked carefully to wean the patient off the strong pain medication."
To accustom or habituate someone to a particular influence, activity, or environment from an early age (usually used in the passive with 'on').
"A generation of programmers was weaned on early home computers during the 1980s."
• noun
Scottish A young child or infant.
"She bundled the wee wean into a warm coat before stepping out into the brisk Glasgow air."
• Rhymes for wean
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English wenian ('to accustom or habituate'), from Proto-Germanic *wanjanan, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *wen- ('to desire or strive for'). The modern sense developed from the phrase 'to accustom a child to solid food' as a substitute for mother's milk.