Etymology The verb is derived from Middle English yernen, yern (“to express or feel desire; to desire, long or wish for; to lust after; to ask or demand for”) [and other forms], from Old English ġeornan (“to desire, yearn; to beg”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan (“to be eager for, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną (“to desire, want”), from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives). The noun is derived from the verb.
Also, Figuratively To have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.
All I yearn for is a simple life.
I muſt do that my heart-ſtrings yern to do: but my word's paſt.c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene iv, page 56, column 2:
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You are now before my eyes, my eyes that are ready to flow with tenderness, but cannot give relief to my gushing heart, that dictates what I am now saying, and yearns to tell you all its achings.1711 August 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, August 13, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 142; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 243:
By morning's cheerful glow, but oftener still by evening's gentle light, the child, with a respect for the short and happy intercourse of these two sisters which forbade her to approach and say a thankful word, although she yearned to do so, followed them at a distance in their walks and rambles, […]1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Thirty-second”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 274:
What his soul yearned after was control of his father's newly purchased sailing-ship.1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, chapter X, in “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897, →OCLC, page 298:
And Jim supported his twitching body by holding on to the sink, the while he yearned toward the yellowish concoction that stood for life.1911 January, Jack London, “Just Meat”, in When God Laughs and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 125:
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Also, Figuratively, Specifically To long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia.
If I don’t go now, thought Charlotte, I shall have lost a chance which I shall eternally regret and yearn after.1971, Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published February 1972, →ISBN, page 420:
Having shaken the dust of the ugly new South Africa from his feet, is he yearning for the South Africa of the old days, when Eden was still possible?2002, J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee, chapter 17, in Youth: Scenes from Provincial Life II, 1st American edition, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 137:
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Of music, words, etc.: to express strong desire or longing.
The music, yearning like a God in pain, / She scarcely heard: […]1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza VII, page 86:
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Dated To have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc., toward someone.
And Joſeph made haſte: for his bowels did yerne upon his brother: and he ſought where to weepe, and hee entred into his chamber, & wept there.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 43:30, column 1:
I have left your mother in the next room. Her heart yearns towards you.1711 July 31 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, July 21, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 123; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 158:
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Oh, it was a pretty sight to see this modest young creature, little more than a child herself, anticipating maternity, but blushing every now and then, and looking askant at her lord and master. How his very bowels yearned over her!1873, Charles Reade, chapter XII, in A Simpleton: A Story of the Day […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 99–100:
[…] Mr. Ratcliffe’s heart yearned toward the charming girl quite with the sensations of a father, or even of an elder brother.1880, [Henry Brooks Adams], chapter III, in Democracy: An American Novel (Leisure-hour Series; no. 112), New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 52:
But supper had cheered Tant' Sannie, who found it impossible longer to maintain that decorous silence, and whose heart yearned over the youth.1883 June, Ralph Iron [pseudonym; Olive Schreiner], “Tant’ Sannie Holds an Upsitting, and Gregory Writes a Letter”, in The Story of an African Farm, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: H. M. Caldwell Company, →OCLC, part II, page 248:
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Obsolete To be distressed or pained; to grieve; to mourn.
My father’s and my uncle Toby’s hearts yearn’d with ſympathy for the poor fellow’s diſtreſs,—[…]1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XVII, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume II, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 144:
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Often followed by out: to perform (music) which conveys or say (words) which express strong desire or longing.
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Archaic, Poetic To have a strong desire or longing (for something or to do something).
8
Obsolete To cause (someone) to have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc.; also, to grieve or pain (someone).
Well, ſhe laments Sir for it, that it would yern your heart to see it: […]c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 52, column 2:
It yernes me not, if men my Garments weare; / Nor care I who doth feed vpon my coſt: / Such outward things dwell not in my deſires. / But if it be a ſinne to couet Honor, / I am the moſt offending Soule aliue.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 86, column 2:
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When the badger finds that the terriers yearn him in his burrow, he will stop the hole between him and the terriers; […]1833, [William Hamilton Maxwell], “Badger-hunting”, in The Field Book: Or, Sports and Pastimes of the United Kingdom; […], London: Effingham Wilson, →OCLC, page 31, column 2:
Wants to sneeze and cannot do it! / Now it yearns me, thrills me, stings me, / Now with rapturous torment wrings me, / Now says “Sneeze, you fool; get through it.”1834 June 25, Leigh Hunt, “A Pinch of Snuff (Concluded.)”, in Leigh Hunt’s London Journal, volume I, number 13, London: Charles Knight, […]; and Henry Hooper, […], →OCLC, page 98, column 1:
Etymology The verb is derived from Middle English yernen, yern (“to express or feel desire; to desire, long or wish for; to lust after; to ask or demand for”) [and other forms], from Old English ġeornan (“to desire, yearn; to beg”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan (“to be eager for, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną (“to desire, want”), from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives). The noun is derived from the verb.
1
A strong desire or longing; a yearning, a yen.
Gibbs now said he wasn't going to pull any punches with Gary when he knew how jealous a man could get, so he also wanted to tell him that Phil Hansen was reputed to have a yearn for attractive ladies.1979, Norman Mailer, The Executioner's Song:
"After he had made a record date with us in 1935, I always had a yearn for Ben," he said years later.2010, Frank Buchmann-Moller, Someone to Watch Over Me: The Life and Music of Ben Webster, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 57:
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"My guess, however, is that it has because there are many people who have a yearn for sex outside their relationship but wouldn't have the slightest idea about how to do it or do it safely," Prof Schwartz added.2014 February 13, AFP, “Why internet adultery numbers are soaring”, in New Zealand Herald:
yearn
verb
Etymology
Probably either: * a variant of earn (“to curdle, as milk”) (though this word is attested later), from Middle English erne, ernen (“to coagulate, congeal”) (chiefly South Midlands) [and other forms], a metathetic variant of rennen (“to run; to coagulate, congeal”), from Old English rinnan (“to run”) (with the variants iernan, irnan) and Old Norse rinna (“to move quickly, run; of liquid: to flow, run; to melt”), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to move, stir; to rise, spring”); or * a back-formation from yearning (“(Scotland, archaic) rennet; calf (or other animal’s) stomach used to make rennet”).
Also his Honour the Duke will accept ane of our Dunlop cheeses, and it sall be my faut if a better was ever yearned in Lowden.1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume IV, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 24: