wean

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

wean, v. t. [OE. wenen, AS. wenian, wennan, to accustom; akin to D. wennen, G. gewöhnen, OHG. giwennan, Icel. venja, Sw. vänja, Dan. vænne, Icel. vanr accustomed, wont; cf. AS. āwenian to wean, G. entwöhnen. See Wont, a.].

•  To accustom and reconcile, as a child or other young animal, to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder; to cause to cease to depend on the mother nourishment.  [1913 Webster]

  "And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned."  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, to detach or alienate the affections of, from any object of desire; to reconcile to the want or loss of anything.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "The troubles of age were intended . . . to wean us gradually from our fondness of life."  [1913 Webster]

wean, n. 

 A weanling; a young child.  [1913 Webster]
"I, being but a yearling wean."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

wean, v.tr.
1 accustom (an infant or other young mammal) to food other than (esp. its mother's) milk.
2 (often foll. by from, away from) disengage (from a habit etc.) by enforced discontinuance.

wean, n. Sc. a young child.

Etymology

contr. of wee ane little one

THESAURUS

wean

alien, alienate, blunt, break of, bring over, chill, convince, cool, cure, damp, dampen, deflect, deter, disaccustom, disaffect, discourage, disincline, disinterest, distract, disunify, disunite, divert, evangelize, indispose, persuade, proselyte, proselytize, put off, quench, repel, stop, turn aside, turn away, turn from, turn off, wean from, win over

ROGET THESAURUS

wean

Belief

VB believe, credit, give faith to, give credit to, credence to, see, realize, assume, receive, set down for, take for, have it, take it, consider, esteem, presume, count upon, depend upon, calculate upon, pin one's faith upon, reckon upon, lean upon, build upon, rely upon, rest upon, lay one's account for, make sure of, make oneself easy about, on that score, take on trust, take on credit, take for granted, take for gospel, allow some weight to, attach some weight to, know, know for certain, have know, make no doubt, doubt not, be, rest assured, persuade oneself, assure oneself, satisfy oneself, make up one's mind, give one credit for, confide in, believe in, put one's trust in, place in, repose in, implicit confidence in, take one's word for, at one's word, place reliance on, rely upon, swear by, regard to, think, hold, take, take it, opine, be of opinion, conceive, trow, ween, fancy, apprehend, have it, hold a belief, possess, entertain a belief, adopt a belief, imbibe a belief, embrace a belief, get hold of a belief, hazard, foster, nurture a belief, cherish a belief, have an opinion, hold an opinion, possess, entertain an opinion, adopt an opinion, imbibe an opinion, embrace an opinion, get hold of an opinion, hazard an opinion, foster an opinion, nurture an opinion, cherish an opinion, view as, consider as, take as, hold as, conceive as, regard as, esteem as, deem as, look upon as, account as, set down as, surmise, get it into one's head, take it into one's head, come round to an opinion, swallow, cause to be believed, satisfy, persuade, have the ear of, gain the confidence of, assure, convince, convict, convert, wean, bring round, bring over, win over, indoctrinate, cram down the throat, produce conviction, carry conviction, bring home to, drive home to, go down, find credence, pass current, be received, be current, possess, take hold of, take possession of the mind.