wane

Etymology 1

From Middle English wane, from Old English wana (“defect, shortage”), from Proto-West Germanic *wanō, from Proto-Germanic *wanô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to leave, abandon; empty, deserted”). Cognates See also wan-, want, and waste. Compare also Dutch waan (“insanity”) and German Wahn (“insanity”) deprecated defect, Old Norse vanr (“lacking”) ( > Danish prefix van-, only found in compounds), Latin vanus, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃 (wans, “missing, lacking”), Albanian vonë (“late, futile, mentally retarded”), Armenian ունայն (unayn, “empty”), Old Saxon and Old High German wanon (“to decrease”), Modern Dutch weinig (“a few”), Modern German weniger (“less”), comparative of wenig (“few”) (-ig being a derivate suffix; -er the suffix of comparatives). Doublet of vain, vaunt, vaniloquent, vast, vacuum, vacant, vacate, which are Latin-derived, via the PIE root.

noun

1. A gradual diminution in power, value, intensity etc.
   1853, Herman Melville, "Bartleby, the Scrivener," in Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories, New York: Penguin, 1968; reprinted 1995 as Bartleby, →ISBN, p. 3, In the morning, one might say, his face was of a fine florid hue, but after twelve o'clock, meridian -- his dinner hour -- it blazed like a grate full of Christmas coals; and continued blazing -- but, as it were, with a gradual wane -- till six o'clock, PM, or thereabouts; after which, I saw no more of the proprietor of the face, ….
   1913, Michael Ott, The Catholic Encyclopedia, "Wenzel Anton Kaunitz", His influence which was on the wane during the reign of Joseph II grew still less during the reign of Leopold II (1790-2).
2. The lunar phase during which the sun seems to illuminate less of the moon as its sunlit area becomes progressively smaller as visible from Earth.
   Some French peasants also prefer to sow in the wane. 1906, James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, volume 2, page 133
   It was very dark, for although the sky was clear the moon was now well in the wane, and would not rise till the small hours. 1926, H. P. Lovecraft, The Moon-Bog
3. (literary) The end of a period.
   The situation of the Venetian party in the wane of the eighteenth century had become extremely critical. 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, or The Two Nations, Book 1, Chapter 3
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4. (woodworking) A rounded corner caused by lack of wood, often showing bark.
   2002, Peter Ross, Appraisal and Repair of Timber Structures, p. 11, Sapwood, or even bark, may appear on the corners, or may have been cut off, resulting in wane, or missing timber.

Etymology 2

From Middle English wanen, wanien, from Old English wanian, wonian, from Proto-West Germanic *wanōn, from Proto-Germanic *wanōną.

verb

1. (intransitive) To progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc.; to decline.
   Land and trade ever will wax and wane together. 1668, Sir Josiah Child, A New Discourse of Trade
   And in the cool twilight when the sea-winds wane[…] 1902, John Masefield, The Golden City of St. Mary
   And so it had always pleased M. Stutz to expect great things from the dark young man whom he had first seen in his early twenties ; and his expectations had waxed rather than waned on hearing the faint bruit of the love of Ivor and Virginia—for Virginia, M. Stutz thought, would bring fineness to a point in a man like Ivor Marlay, […]. 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days
   His popularity, however, has waned, say analysts. 2022-09-30, Rebecca Ratcliffe, “Anger after Thai court rules 2014 coup leader can carry on as PM”, in The Guardian, Guardian News & Media Limited
2. (intransitive) Said of light that dims or diminishes in strength.
   The skies may hold not the splendour of sundown fast; / It wanes into twilight as dawn dies down into day. 1894, Algernon Charles Swinburne, A Nympholept
3. (intransitive, astronomy) Said of the Moon as it passes through the phases of its monthly cycle where its surface is less and less visible.
   The fall of Jack, and the subsequent fall of Jill, simply represent the vanishing of one moon-spot after another, as the moon wanes. 1866, Sabine Baring-Gould, “The Man in the Moon”, in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages
4. (intransitive) Said of a time period that comes to an end.
   Fast as autumn days toward winter: yet it seems//Here that autumn wanes not, here that woods and streams 1889, Algernon Charles Swinburne, A Swimmer's Dream
5. (intransitive, archaic) To decrease physically in size, amount, numbers or surface.
   Denisovans had little genetic diversity, suggesting that their small population waned further as populations of modern humans expanded. 2012-08-30, Ann Gibbons, “Genome Brings Ancient Girl to Life”, in Science Now, retrieved 2012-09-04
6. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to decrease.
   In which no lustful finger can profane him, Nor any earth with black eclipses wane him 1610, Ben Jonson, The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers
   Proud once and princely was the mansion, ere a succession of spendthrifts waned away its splendour. 1797, Anna Seward, Letter to Mrs Childers of Yorkshire

Etymology 3

From Scots wean.

noun

1. (Scotland, slang) A child.

Etymology 4

From Middle English wōne, wāne (“dwelling," "custom”), of unclear origins, compare wont.

noun

1. (chiefly Northern England and Scotland, obsolete) A house or dwelling.