Etymograph

English

wean

Wean comes from Old English wenian ‘to accustom’, from Proto-Germanic *wanjaną ‘to make wont’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to strive for’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-‘to strive for’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wanjaną‘to make wont’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wannjan‘to accustom’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wenian‘to accustom’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wenen
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588wean

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-‘to strive for’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wanjaną‘to make wont’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wannjan‘to accustom’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wenian‘to accustom’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wenen
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588wean

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “For they are friends that help to weane my…”

The story

Related via PIE to wone, wont, and wonder, and perhaps win.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to strive for’

win, won, wish, wonder, wont, venom, venerable, wynn, wen, winsome, venereal, venerate, 18 more

through Middle English wenen

ween

Another origin of wean

  1. Scotsc. 1450–presentwean‘child’literally ‘wee one’
  2. Englishtodaysame form

Borrowed from Scots wean (literally “wee one”).

Today it means

verb To cease giving breast 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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- / wean

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