yearning

Meaning

Noun

A wistful or melancholy longing.

Verb

present participle and gerund of yearn

yearn

• Verb
• Noun

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Synonyms

longing

craving

desire

wish

aspiration

nostalgia

eagerness

missing

homesickness

desirous

hungriness

wistful

hankering

sorrow

lust

ambition

melancholy

dream

😴💭

wistfulness

grieving

need

wishfulness

wishful

pining

eager

pity

reminisce

rue

seamy

seeking

tendency

think of

thirst

thirsting

tormenting

tough

unappealing

unappetizing

unattractive

unenlivened

unhappy

☹️

uninteresting

unsympathetic

untoward

unwelcome

unwished

want

wishing

yen

💴

zeal

Translations

Sehnsucht

brama

anhelo

désir

nostalgie

Verlangen

λαχτάρα

saudade

nostalgia

bramosia

añoranza

ansia

πόθος

aspiration

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈjɝnɪŋ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: yerning

Inherited from Old English: ġierning

Inherited from Middle English: yernyng

Inherited from Old English: rynning

In summary

From Middle English yerning, from Old English ġierning, ġierninge. Equivalent to the gerund (yearn + -ing). yearn comes from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan, from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną, from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) + *-janą, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”). By surface analysis, yearn + -ing.