ween

[ ween ]

/ win /

verb (used with or without object) Archaic.

to think; suppose.

to expect, hope, or intend.

Nearby words

weekly, weeknight, weel, weelkes, weems, ween, weenie, weeny, weeny-bopper, weep, weep buckets

Origin of ween

before 900; Middle English wenen, Old English wēnan to expect; cognate with German wähnen to imagine, Old Norse væna, Gothic wēnjan to hope, expect

Related forms

un·weened, adjective

Can be confused

wean ween

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ween

Wherefore I make unto you a remembrance, that ye shall not ween from henceforth that ye be the best knight of the world.
Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume II (of II)|Thomas Malory
How may I then ween that I love, or hold myself better, on account of that which any man may do?
The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises|Richard Rolle of Hampole
I ween the end will prove this brawl did first arise Upon no other ground but only Diccon's lies.Chat.
Gammer Gurton's Needle|Mr. S. Mr. of Art
Many things have I suffered, and more, I ween, remains for me in store; for I am a man of many woes.
Stories from the Odyssey|H. L. Havell

Well did I ween from experience, that the maiden's troubles were the most insufferable to be borne!
The Three Perils of Man, Vol. 3 (of 3)|James Hogg

British Dictionary definitions for ween

ween

/ (wiːn) /

verb

archaic to think or imagine (something)

Word Origin for ween

Old English wēnan; related to Old Saxon wānian, Gothic wēnjan, German wähnen to assume wrongly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012