Etymology From Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian (“to accustom; habituate; train; prepare; make fit”), from Proto-West Germanic *wannjan, from Proto-Germanic *wanjaną (“to make wont; accustom”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive for; wish; love”). Cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Danish vænne, Swedish vänja, Icelandic venja. Related via PIE to wone, wont, and wonder, and perhaps win.
1
To cease giving breast milk to an offspring; to accustom and reconcile (a child or young animal) to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder.
The cow has weaned her calf.
Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 21:8:
2
Broadly, Often, Followed by on To habituate (someone) to something, especially since childhood.
Chiefly passive voice
His generation was weaned on 1980's music.
3
To cease to depend on the mother's milk for nutrition.
The kittens are finally weaning.
4
Broadly, Normally "wean off" To cause to quit something to which one is addicted, dependent, or habituated.
He managed to wean himself off heroin.
With Marvin getting older ... and walking now ... I thought it was time to start weaning him off of his bottle.2004 May 3, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):
2 more examples
The troubles of age were intended […] to wean us gradually from our fondness of life.1727, Jonathan Swift, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
Dalai Lama: "Then, I suggested, “Drink much less vodka.” Instead of that, they traditionally also drink horse milk—" Oliver: "Wait, hold on, you tried to wean them off vodka by giving them horse milk?" Dalai Lama: "Oh yes, and they follow."March 6, 2017, John Oliver, “Interview with the Dalai Lama”, in Last Week Tonight:
5
Broadly To cease to depend.
She is weaning from her addiction to tobacco.
6
Broadly, Obsolete To raise, to help grow toward maturity
For they are friends that help to weane my ſtate, Till men and kingdomes help to ſtrengthen it: […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
wean
noun
/ˈwiː(ə)n/ · /ˈweɪ(ə)n/
Etymology Borrowed from Scots wean (literally “wee one”).
I, being but a yearling wean.1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Third Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
And there were darker tales in the countryside, of weans stolen, of lassies misguided, of innocent beasts cruelly tortured, and in one and all there came in the name of the wife of the Skerburnfoot.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
2 more examples
‘While I was his ward, he treated me no worse as a wean about the place than one of his own boys.’1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 77:
Pigs, cows and sheep and wee ducks, that was what he bought and it was just for weans and wee lasses. I said it to my maw. Oh it is not weans it is children. Oh Kieron, it is children and girls, do not say weans and lasses.2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, page 92: