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. wean on,  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

Other Word Forms

• weaning noun
• weanedness noun
• postweaning adjective
• preweaning adjective
• unweaned 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

She has weaned herself off meds over the past couple of years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Meantime, Europe to its credit is trying to wean itself off Russian gas.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Europe, shaken by energy security fears after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has also raced to wean itself off its fossil-fuel dependency.

Read more on Barron's

The offspring were weaned at 21 days after birth, and assigned either a control diet, or a ketogenic diet.

Read more on Science Daily

Foreign investors and central banks are attempting to wean themselves off their reliance on U.S.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• discourage