waken

American  

[wey-kuhn] / ˈweɪ kən /

verb (used with object)

1. to rouse from sleep; wake; awake; awaken.

2. to rouse from inactivity; stir up or excite; arouse; awaken.

   to waken the reader's interest.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to wake, or become awake; awaken.

waken British  

/ ˈweɪkən /

verb

1. to rouse or be roused from sleep or some other inactive state

---

Other Word Forms

• rewaken verb
• unwakened adjective
• wakener noun

Etymology

Origin of waken

before 900; Middle English waknen, Old English wæcnan; cognate with Old Norse vakna; akin to wake ¹; -en ¹

Example Sentences

Sometimes I waken up again and it's dark out there.

From BBC • Dec. 28, 2023

If, for example, they don’t waken spontaneously in the morning, have tantrums, can’t focus in school or are sleepy in the afternoons, they might not be getting enough sleep.

From Washington Post • Jul. 7, 2022

According to the officers’ lawsuit, police spent 40 minutes trying to waken the couple, including using their sirens.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2022

It may waken you in the middle of the night.

From Salon • Dec. 3, 2013

And Lotus mused until Wang Lung said hastily to waken her, for he did not like her to think on her old life, “What was his business, then, with all this silver?”

From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck