ween meaning (obsolete): definition, etymology and quotations

ween

noun

/ˈwiːn/ · [ˈwɪi̯n]

Etymology From Middle English wene, from Old English wēn, wēna (“hope, weening, expectation”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāni, from Proto-Germanic *wēniz, *wēnǭ (“hope, expectation”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive, love, want, reach, win”). Cognate with Dutch waan (“delusion”), Afrikaans waan (“delusion”), German Wahn (“illusion, false hope”).

Obsolete Doubt; conjecture.

ween

verb

Etymology From Middle English wenen, from Old English wēnan, from Proto-Germanic *wēnijaną. Cognate with Dutch wanen, German wähnen.

Archaic To suppose, imagine; to think, believe.

And when they will fight they will shock them together in a plump; that if there be 20000 men, men shall not ween that there be scant 10000.1481, Author unknown (pseudonym Sir John Mandeville), The travels of Sir John Mandeville
And right as Arthur was on horseback there came a damosel from Morgan le Fay, and brought unto Sir Arthur a sword like unto Excalibur, and the scabbard, and said unto Arthur, Morgan le Fay sendeth here your sword for great love. And he thanked her, and weened it had been so, but she was false, for the sword and the scabbard were counterfeit, and brittle, and false.

4 more examples

Then sayde Peter unto hym: Perissh thou and thy money togedder. For thou wenest that the gyfte of god maye be obteyned with money?1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:
Wise men in old time would ween themselves fools; Fools now in new time will ween themselves wise.1562, John Heywood, The proverbs, epigrams, and miscellanies of John Heywood:
… for I ween he will no longer suffer him to abide among the adulterous and wicked Generation of this World.1677, Thomas Mall, A cloud of witnesses:
But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder, Shall wholly do away, I ween, The marks of that which once hath been.1816, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “(please specify the page)”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], →OCLC:

Dated To expect, hope or wish.

Derived terms: overween, underween

ween

verb

Etymology From Middle English weinen (“to wail, lament”), from Old English wānian (“to bewail, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *wainōną (“to cry, lament, grieve”). Cognate with Dutch wenen (“to weep, cry”), German weinen (“to weep, cry”), Icelandic veina (“to wail, cry out”), West Frisian weine (“to weep, cry”).

Northern England, Scotland, Rare To weep or cry.

The boy's mother weened day and night.

Obsolete To lament.

ween

noun

Etymology Abbreviation of wiener dog

Slang wiener dog, dachshund

ween

noun

Etymology Abbreviation of wiener (penis)

Slang penis

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.