Word
wean
US/ˈwin/
UK/wˈiːn/
Definitions
01stopping milk
v. to gradually stop feeding a baby or young animal with its mother's milk and start giving it other food.
v. to accustom an infant or young animal to food other than its mother's milk. Transitive, though occasionally used intransitively to describe the natural process of the offspring.
“The farmer began to wean the calves when they were about eight weeks old.”
“Pediatricians generally recommend that parents begin to wean infants onto solid foods around the six-month mark, depending on the child's developmental readiness.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
03a child
n. a word used in Scotland to mean a young child.
n. a term for a small child, derived from 'wee one'.
“The woman was walking down the street with a tiny wean in a pram.”
“In Glasgow, you might hear a parent telling their restless wean to behave while they wait for the bus.”
Dialect
Teaching tip
This is specifically associated with Scots and Northern Irish dialects; it is rarely used or understood outside these regions.
Antonyms
Real-World Examples
“In August, about 200 environmental groups urged von der Leyen in a letter to use the speech to lay out concrete plans to wean the 27-nation bloc off fossil fuels.” “They outperformed non-nicotine vapes too, although researchers say switching to these afterwards might help with weaning off nicotine.” Etymology
From Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian (“to accustom; habituate; train; prepare; make fit”), from Proto-West Germanic wannjan, from Proto-Germanic wanjaną (“to make wont; accustom”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive for; wish; love”). Cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Danish vænne, Swedish vänja, Icelandic venja. Related via PIE to wone, wont, and wonder, and perhaps win.
Borrowed from Scots wean (literally “wee one”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/wean