Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To accustom (the young of a mammal) to take nourishment other than by suckling.
  • transitive verb To detach from that to which one is strongly habituated or devoted.
  • transitive verb To accustom to something from an early age. Often used with on:

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To accustom (a child or young animal) to nourishment or food other than its mother's milk; disaccustom to the mother's breast: as, to wean a child.
  • To detach or alienate, as the affections, from any object of desire; reconcile to the want or loss of something; disengage from any habit, former pursuit, or enjoyment: as, to wean the heart from temporal enjoyments.
  • noun An infant; a weanling.
  • noun A child; a boy or girl of tender age.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To accustom and reconcile, as a child or other young animal, to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder; to cause to cease to depend on the mother nourishment.
  • transitive verb Hence, to detach or alienate the affections of, from any object of desire; to reconcile to the want or loss of anything.
  • noun A weanling; a young child.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To cease giving milk to an offspring.
  • verb transitive To quit from something to which one is addicted or habituated.
  • verb intransitive To cease to depend on the mother for nourishment.
  • verb intransitive To cease to depend.
  • noun Scotland A small child.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb detach the affections of
  • verb gradually deprive (infants and young mammals) of mother's milk

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian; see wen- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English wenian.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Blend of wee and ane.

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Examples

  • And my understanding of wean is a slow removal, not stopping cold turkey.

    Think Progress » Bachmann’s Plan: To Deal With Debt, We Must ‘Wean Everybody’ Off Social Security, Medicare 2010

  • Tommy’s howling like a fookin wean and it’s fookin dark but Seamus can feel the fookin dirt raining down on him.

    What Is Style? Hal Duncan 2005

  • Tommy’s howling like a fookin wean and it’s fookin dark but Seamus can feel the fookin dirt raining down on him.

    Archive 2005-02-01 Hal Duncan 2005

  • Tommy’s howling like a fookin wean and it’s fookin dark but Seamus can feel the fookin dirt raining down on him.

    Scraps Of Vellum Hal Duncan 1999

  • Tommy’s howling like a fookin wean and it’s fookin dark but Seamus can feel the fookin dirt raining down on him.

    Archive 1999-01-01 Hal Duncan 1999

  • Weaning:The definition of the word wean is to withhold mother’s milk from the young of a mammal and substitute other nourishment.

    Mothering Twins LINDA ALBI 1993

  • Weaning:The definition of the word wean is to withhold mother’s milk from the young of a mammal and substitute other nourishment.

    Mothering Twins LINDA ALBI 1993

  • Weaning:The definition of the word wean is to withhold mother’s milk from the young of a mammal and substitute other nourishment.

    Mothering Twins LINDA ALBI 1993

  • Clark's latest ad focuses on Bachmann's strong words against the current structuring of Social Security and a statement that the congresswoman made about the government needing to "wean" people off the program.

    Bachmann Throws Bush Under The Bus In New Campaign Ad (VIDEO) The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • Clark's latest ad focuses on Bachmann's strong words against the current structuring of Social Security and a statement that the congresswoman made about the government needing to "wean" people off the program.

    Bachmann Throws Bush Under The Bus In New Campaign Ad (VIDEO) The Huffington Post News Team 2010

Comments

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  • Also means 'child' in Scots slang, especially in Glasgow area.

    November 15, 2007

  • "I couldn't leave them to look after themselves. Look at the size of them! But I'm too old, Lanark, to be pestered by bloody weans."

    - Alasdair Gray, Lanark, ch. 2

    January 19, 2009