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 weened

It satisfied the part of me that grew up and was weened on SNL.
Michaela Watkins: Fired From ‘SNL’ To Hollywood’s Funniest Scene-Stealer|Kevin Fallon|March 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Thou wouldst have weened it was a hammering wherewith each hair was hammered into his head, with such an uprising it rose.
The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tin B Calnge|Unknown
She weened himself had done it, / and all unaided he, Nor wot she one far mightier / was thither come so secretly.
The Nibelungenlied|Unknown
I weened in this court had been the best knights without treachery or treason.
Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume I (of II)|Thomas Malory

She weened to save the hero, / yet wrought she nothing save his bane.
The Nibelungenlied|Unknown
I weened he spoke in jest and did but answer—If thou seest aught else, prithee show it unto me.
Paris and its Story|Thomas Okey

British Dictionary definitions for weened

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 weened

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.