Meanings
present singular third person wanses · participle present wansing · participle past wansed · past wansed · alternative wanze
- ScotlandUKdialectalintransitiveTo wane; waste, waste away; pine; wither.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁weh₂-“empty”
- Proto-Germanic*wanisōną“to lessen”
- Proto-West Germanic*wansōn
- Old Englishwansian“to diminish”
- Middle Englishwansen“to decrease, diminish”
- Englishwanse
From Middle English wansen (“to decrease, diminish”), from Old English wansian (“to diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wansōn, a variant of *wanisōn, from Proto-Germanic *wanisōną (“to lessen”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”). Cognate with Old Norse vansa (“to do too little, suffer loss”), Old Norse vansi (“lack, want”). More at wane.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
wanse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wanse
“wanse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wanse. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wanse,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wanse.
Source: wanse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.