English
waning
Waning comes from Middle English waning, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *wanungō.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wanungōreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wanung
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500waning
- Englishearliest quotation 1829same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wanungōreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wanung
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500waning
- Englishearliest quotation 1829same form
Earliest quotation: 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, Tamerlane: “And boyhood is a summer sun Whose waning is…”
Formed from wane + -ing
Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‘to leave, abandon’
Proto-Germanic *wanô ‘deficiency’
Proto-West Germanic *wanō
Old English wana ‘defect, shortage’
Middle English wane
English wane
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *wanungō
Today it means
noun The fact or act of becoming less or less intense or present; fading.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *wanungō / waning