wean — to gradually stop feeding a baby or young animal with milk and start giving solid food
Part of speech: VERB
Definition: to gradually stop feeding a baby or young animal with milk and start giving solid food
Pronunciation (IPA): /wiːn/
Example Sentences
- The mother pig will naturally wean her piglets after 8 weeks, even though they still cry 'wean! wean!' for more milk.
- It took months to wean him off his smartphone addiction.
- The company plans to wean itself off foreign suppliers by 2025.
wean
VERB[/wiːn/]
to gradually stop feeding a baby or young animal with milk and start giving solid food
The mother gently begins to wean her toddler off the bottle with a sippy cup.
Keen eyes help the weaned find food clean!
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🎤Pronunciation
🌳Etymology
Origin
Wean derives from Old English 'wenian', meaning 'to accustom' or 'to make familiar'. The word shares a common Germanic root with related languages, carrying the conceptual sense of gradual habituation. Originally applied to the process of separating young animals from their mothers, the term has broadened to encompass the general concept of progressive weaning or withdrawal from dependency.
Breakdown
Old English 'wenian' (to accustom, to habituate) → Modern English 'wean'. The root 'wen-' expresses the idea of gradual familiarization or adjustment, with the '-ian' suffix marking the verb form in Old English.
🎵Rhyme
🔗Collocations
📝Examples
“The mother pig will naturally wean her piglets after 8 weeks, even though they still cry 'wean! wean!' for more milk.”
“It took months to wean him off his smartphone addiction.”
“The company plans to wean itself off foreign suppliers by 2025.”
“She was gradually weaned from her coffee habit, going from 10 cups to zero in a month.”
📚Related Words
Synonyms
Antonyms
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