yearn
English
WOTD – 28 May 2021
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /jɜːn/
- (General American) enPR: yûrn, IPA(key): /jɝn/
Audio (GA) (file) - Homophone: yern
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
Etymology 1
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],[1] 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 *ǵʰer- (“to yearn for”)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives).[2]
The noun is derived from the verb.[3]
Verb
yearn (third-person singular simple present yearns, present participle yearning, simple past and past participle yearned)
- (intransitive, 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.
- c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, OCLC 3083972, Act II, scene iv, page 56, column 2:
- I muſt do that my heart-ſtrings yern to do: but my word's paſt.
- 1711 August 24 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison; Richard Steele [et al.], “MONDAY, 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 191120697, page 243:
- 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.
- 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 1109979921, page 274:
- 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, […]
- 1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, chapter X, in “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897, OCLC 5204939, page 298:
- What his soul yearned after was control of his father's newly purchased sailing-ship.
- 1911 January, Jack London, “Just Meat”, in When God Laughs and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, OCLC 2185088, page 125:
- And Jim supported his twitching body by holding on to the sink, the while he yearned toward the yellowish concoction that stood for life.
- 1913–1960 (writing and revisions), E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter 40, in Maurice, London: Penguin Books, published 1971 (1987 printing), →ISBN, page 181:
- But all that night his body yearned for Alec's, despite him. He called it lustful, a word easily uttered, and opposed it to his work, his family, his friends, his position in society. […] But his body would not be convinced.
- 1915, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “Letters from Home”, in Anne of the Island, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, OCLC 32428260, page 50:
- Anne, please tell me over again that you like me a little bit. I yearn to hear it.
- (specifically) To long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia.
- 1971, Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published February 1972, →ISBN, page 420:
- If I don’t go now, thought Charlotte, I shall have lost a chance which I shall eternally regret and yearn after.
- 2002, J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee, chapter 17, in Youth: Scenes from Provincial Life II, 1st American edition, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 137:
- 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?
-
- (intransitive) Of music, words, etc.: to express strong desire or longing.
- 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 927360557, stanza VII, page 86:
- The music, yearning like a God in pain, / She scarcely heard: […]
-
- (intransitive, dated) To have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc., toward someone.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 43:30, column 1:
- 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.
- 1711 August 1 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison; Richard Steele [et al.], “SATURDAY, 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 191120697, page 158:
- I have left your mother in the next room. Her heart yearns towards you.
- 1873, Charles Reade, chapter XII, in A Simpleton: A Story of the Day […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], OCLC 4367948, pages 99–100:
- 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!
- 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 557792295, page 52:
- […] Mr. Ratcliffe’s heart yearned toward the charming girl quite with the sensations of a father, or even of an elder brother.
- 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 5141001, part II, page 248:
- But supper had cheered Tant' Sannie, who found it impossible longer to maintain that decorous silence, and whose heart yearned over the youth.
-
- (intransitive, obsolete) To be distressed or pained; to grieve; to mourn.
- 1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XVII, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume II, 2nd (1st London) edition, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, OCLC 976409157, page 144:
- My father’s and my uncle Toby’s hearts yearn’d with ſympathy for the poor fellow’s diſtreſs,— […]
-
- (transitive) Often followed by out: to perform (music) which conveys or say (words) which express strong desire or longing.
- (transitive, archaic or poetic) To have a strong desire or longing (for something or to do something).
- Synonym: (obsolete) earn
- (transitive, obsolete) To cause (someone) to have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc.; also, to grieve or pain (someone).
- Synonym: (obsolete) earn
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene v], page 52, column 2:
- Well, ſhe laments Sir for it, that it would yern your heart to see it: […]
- 1599, 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 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii], page 86, 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.
- 1833, [William Hamilton Maxwell], “Badger-hunting”, in The Field Book: Or, Sports and Pastimes of the United Kingdom; […], London: Effingham Wilson, OCLC 57230597, page 31, column 2:
- When the badger finds that the terriers yearn him in his burrow, he will stop the hole between him and the terriers; […]
- 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 276731836, page 98, column 1:
- 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.”
Conjugation
Conjugation of yearn
| infinitive | (to) yearn | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | yearn | yearned | |
| 2nd-person singular | |||
| 3rd-person singular | yearns | ||
| plural | yearn | ||
| subjunctive | yearn | yearned | |
| imperative | yearn | — | |
| participles | yearning | yearned | |
Derived terms
- yearner
- yearnful
- yearning
- yearnly
- yearnsome
- yearny
Translations
to have a strong desire for something or to do something
|
to long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia
|
to have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc., toward someone
to perform (music) which conveys or say (words) which express strong desire or longing
to have a strong desire for (something)
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
yearn (plural yearns)
- A strong desire or longing; a yearning, a yen.
- 1917 August 12, "A YEARN FOR PEACE; Pan-Germanism Denounced" Sunday Times (Perth, WA) p.1
- 1979 Norman Mailer, The Executioner's Song
- 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.
- 2010, Frank Buchmann-Moller, Someone to Watch Over Me: The Life and Music of Ben Webster, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 57:
- "After he had made a record date with us in 1935, I always had a yearn for Ben," he said years later.
- 2014 February 13, AFP, "Why internet adultery numbers are soaring" New Zealand Herald
- "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.
Translations
strong desire or longing — see yearning
Etymology 2
Probably either:[4]
- 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 rinnen (“to run”) (with the variants iernan, irnan) and Old Norse rinna (“to move quickly, run; of liquid: to flow, run; to melt”),[5] 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”).
Verb
yearn (third-person singular simple present yearns, present participle yearning, simple past and past participle yearned)
- (Northern England, Scotland, intransitive)
- Of milk: to curdle, especially in the cheesemaking process.
- Synonyms: (obsolete or regional) earn, run
- Of cheese: to be made from curdled milk.
- Of milk: to curdle, especially in the cheesemaking process.
- (Northern England, Scotland, transitive)
- To curdle (milk), especially in the cheesemaking process.
- To make (cheese) from curdled milk.
- 1818 July 25, Jedadiah 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 819902302, page 24:
- 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.
-
Translations
of milk: to curdle, especially in the cheesemaking process
|
of cheese: to be made from curdled milk
to curdle (milk), especially in the cheesemaking process
|
to make (cheese) from curdled milk
References
- “yernen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- Compare “yearn, v.1”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “yearn, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. - “yearn, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2018.
- “yearn, v.2”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
- “rennen, v.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Anagrams
- Aeryn, Arney, Neary, Neyra, Raney, Rayne, Yaren, aryne, rayne, renay, yarne