WEAN


Meaning of WEAN in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈwēn ]

transitive verb

Etymology: Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian to accustom, wean; akin to Old English wunian to be used to — more at wont

Date: before 12th century

1. : to accustom (as a young child or animal) to take food otherwise than by nursing

2. : to detach from a source of dependence

being wean ed off the medication

wean the bears from human food — Sports Illus.

also : to free from a usually unwholesome habit or interest

wean him off his excessive drinking

settling his soldiers on the land…, wean ing them from habits of violence — Geoffrey Carnall

3. : to accustom to something from an early age — used in the passive especially with on

students wean ed on the Internet for research

I was wean ed on greasepaint — Helen Hayes

the principles upon which he had been wean ed — J. A. Michener

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.