ween

[ ween ]

/ win /

verb (used with or without object) Archaic.

to think; suppose.

to expect, hope, or intend.

Nearby words

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 formsun·weened, adjective

Can be confusedwean 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

Word Origin and History for ween

ween

Old English wenan "to think," from Proto-Germanic *woenijanan (cf. Old Saxon wanian, Old Norse væna, Old Frisian wena, Old High German wanen, German wähnen, Gothic wenjan "to expect, suppose, think"), from *woeniz "expectation," from PIE root *wen- "to wish, desire, strive for" (see Venus). Archaic since 17c.