wane

Meaning

Noun

1. A gradual diminution in power, value, intensity etc.
2. The lunar phase during which the sun seems to illuminate less of the moon as its sunlit area becomes progressively smaller as visible from Earth.
3. (literary) The end of a period.
4. A rounded corner caused by lack of wood, often showing bark.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc.; to decline.
2. (intransitive) For light to dim or diminish in strength.
3. (intransitive) For the Moon to pass through the phases of its monthly cycle where its surface is less and less visible.
4. (intransitive) Said of a time period that comes to an end.
5. (archaic, intransitive) To decrease physically in size, amount, numbers or surface.
6. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to decrease.

Synonyms

decline

decrease

decay

diminish

dwindle

lessen

abate

go down

fade

ebb

diminution

sink

perish

fail

peter out

disappear

contract

fall off

incline toward

lacking

flag

decadence

trend toward

darken

be disposed to

be prone to

shrink

reduce

slant

ebbing

lurch

wither

impairment

droop

draw in

decompose

dissolve

collapse

declination

die down

lean

die away

careen

age

incline

die

💀

devolution

fizzle

deterioration

fall

Translations

minguar

diminuer

diminuir

schwinden

abnehmen

verminderen

menguar

decrescere

ελαττώνομαι

décliner

kleiner worden

afnemen

minvar

diminuire

dalen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/weɪn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: wane

Inherited from Old English: wana

Cognate with Dutch: waan

Cognate with German: Wahn

Cognate with Old Norse: vanr

Cognate with Danish: -

Cognate with Latin: vanus

Cognate with Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃

Cognate with Albanian: vonë

Cognate with Armenian: ունայն

Cognate with Old Saxon: -

Cognate with Old High German: wanon

Cognate with Dutch: weinig

Cognate with German: weniger

Cognate with Latin: -

Inherited from Middle English: wanen

Inherited from Old English: wanian

In summary

From Middle English wane, from Old English wana (“defect, shortage”), from Proto-West Germanic *wanō, from Proto-Germanic *wanô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to leave, abandon; empty, deserted”).
Cognates
See also wan-, want, and waste. Compare also Dutch waan (“insanity”) and German Wahn (“insanity”) deprecated defect, Old Norse vanr (“lacking”) ( > Danish prefix van-, only found in compounds), Latin vanus, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃 (wans, “missing, lacking”), Albanian vonë (“late, futile, mentally retarded”), Armenian ունայն (unayn, “empty”), Old Saxon and Old High German wanon (“to decrease”), Modern Dutch weinig (“a few”), Modern German weniger (“less”), comparative of wenig (“few”) (-ig being a derivate suffix; -er the suffix of comparatives). Doublet of vain, vaunt, vaniloquent, vast, vacuum, vacant, vacate, which are Latin-derived, via the PIE root.