wean

[ ween ]

verb (used with object)

1. to accustom (a child or young animal) to food other than mother's milk; cause to lose the need to suckle or turn to the mother for food.
2. to withdraw (a person, the affections, one's dependency, etc.) from some object, habit, form of enjoyment, or the like:

   The need to reduce had weaned us from rich desserts.

verb phrase

1. to accustom to; to familiarize with from, or as if from, childhood:

   a brilliant student weaned on the classics;

   suburban kids weaned on rock music.

wean

¹

/ wiːn /

verb

1. to cause (a child or young mammal) to replace mother's milk by other nourishment
2. usually foll by from to cause to desert former habits, pursuits, etc

wean

²

/ weɪn; wiːn /

noun

1. dialect.
   a child; infant

Derived Forms

• ˈweaning, noun

Other Words From

• wean·ed·ness [wee, -nid-nis, weend, -], noun
• post·wean·ing adjective
• pre·wean·ing adjective
• un·weaned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wean¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English wenen, Old English wenian; cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Old Norse venja “to accustom”

Word History and Origins

Origin of wean¹

Old English wenian to accustom; related to German gewöhnen to get used to

Origin of wean²

a contraction of wee ane or perhaps a shortened form of weanling

Example Sentences

Some reports even tie psychosis to the withdrawal episodes experienced while weaning off of phenibut.

From Ozy

In the meantime, San Diego is spending billions to diversify its local water supply in an effort to wean itself off the Colorado River.

From Voice of San Diego

It’s good that oil demand is waning as the world should be in a rush to wean itself off of fossil fuels.

From Fortune

A government push in 1970 to wean India off costly imports and manufacture cheaper medicines for its own citizens led to legal reforms that kickstarted growth of India’s generics industry.

From Fortune

Hyena moms nurse their cubs for around 14 months and help them get enough food even after they’re weaned.

From Science News

“Since MGP whiskey is [more than] 80 percent of my revenues, it might be silly to wean myself off of that,” Perkins says.

From The Daily Beast

The court postponed execution of the sentence, to give her time to recover from childbirth and to wean the new baby.

From The Daily Beast

Direct payments came into being in 1996, originally as an effort to wean farmers off of direct government subsides altogether.

From The Daily Beast

But it was Carter who first crusaded for the U.S. to wean itself off of its dependence on oil.

From The Daily Beast

“I was trying to wean him off,” Murray said to the detectives.

From The Daily Beast

He would not, however, wean the calf till the winter time, when she was shut up in the yard and fed on hay.

From Project Gutenberg

We were always the best of friends, and I even ventured gradually to wean them from cannibalism.

From Project Gutenberg

"Madame de la Fayette and I are using every effort to wean him from so dangerous an attachment," she writes to her daughter.

From Project Gutenberg

Then you must put your hand to the plough with a will; and the first thing to do is to wean him away from Saul Harrington.

From Project Gutenberg

Suffering is not always punitive; it is sometimes disciplinary, designed to wean the good man from his sin.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• discourage