ween
[ween]
- to think; suppose.
- to expect, hope, or intend.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for weened
Contemporary Examples
It satisfied the part of me that grew up and was weened on SNL.
Historical Examples
You would have weened that day that there were none but rich folk in Nuremberg.
Margery [Gred], CompleteGeorg Ebers
Who would have weened that, thou that hast been to me so dear?
Britain in the Middle AgesFlorence L. Bowman
He weened that Ruediger knowing / had warned what lay for them in store.
The NibelungenliedUnknown
They weened that he had conquered / in trial by his proper might.
The NibelungenliedUnknown
She weened to save the hero, / yet wrought she nothing save his bane.
The NibelungenliedUnknown
ween
- archaic to think or imagine (something)
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Word Origin
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 weened
ween
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper