Adjacent Words

Yearn definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

YEARN, YERN, v.i. [G. The sense is to strain, or stretch forward. We have earnest from the same root.]
1. To be strained; to be pained or distressed; to suffer.
Falstaff, he is dead, and we must yearn therefore.
2. Usually, to long; to feel an earnest desire; that is literally, to have a desire or inclination stretching towards the object or end. 1 Kings 3.
Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon his brother. Genesis 43.
Your mothers heart yearns toward you.
--Anticlus, unable to control, spoke loud the language of his yearning soul.
YEARN, YERN, v.t. To pain; to grieve; to vex.
She laments for it, that it would yearn your heart to see it.
It yearns me not if men my garments wear.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: desire strongly or persistently [syn: hanker, long, yearn]
2: have a desire for something or someone who is not present; "She ached for a cigarette"; "I am pining for my lover" [syn: ache, yearn, yen, pine, languish]
3: have affection for; feel tenderness for

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb Etymology: Middle English yernen, from Old English giernan; akin to Old High German ger?n to desire, Latin hortari to urge, encourage, Greek chairein to rejoice Date: before 12th century 1. to long persistently, wistfully, or sadly <yearns to make a difference> 2. to feel tenderness or compassion Synonyms: see long • yearner noun • yearningly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. 1 (usu. foll. by for, after, or to + infin.) have a strong emotional longing. 2 (usu. foll. by to, towards) be filled with compassion or tenderness. Derivatives: yearner n. yearning n. & adj. yearningly adv. Etymology: OE giernan f. a Gmc root meaning 'eager'

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Yearn Yearn (y[~e]rn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Yearned; p. pr. & vb. n. Yearning.] [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr, Goth. arms. The y- in English is perhaps due to the AS. ge (see Y-).] To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Obs.] ``She laments, sir, for it, that it would yearn your heart to see it.'' --Shak. It yearns me not if men my garments wear. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Yearn Yearn, v. i. To be pained or distressed; to grieve; to mourn. [Obs.] ``Falstaff he is dead, and we must yearn therefore.'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Yearn Yearn, v. i. & t. [See Yearnings.] To curdle, as milk. [Scot.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Yearn Yearn, v. i. [OE. yernen, [yogh]ernen, [yogh]eornen, AS. geornian, gyrnan, fr. georn desirous, eager; akin to OS. gern desirous, girnean, gernean, to desire, D. gaarne gladly, willingly, G. gern, OHG. gerno, adv., gern, a., G. gier greed, OHG. gir[=i] greed, ger desirous, ger[=o]n to desire, G. begehren, Icel. girna to desire, gjarn eager, Goth. fa['i]huga['i]rns covetous, ga['i]rnjan to desire, and perhaps to Gr. chai`rein to rejoice, be glad, Skr. hary to desire, to like. [root]33.] To be filled with longing desire; to be harassed or rendered uneasy with longing, or feeling the want of a thing; to strain with emotions of affection or tenderness; to long; to be eager. Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother; and he sought where to weep. --Gen. xliii. 30. Your mother's heart yearns towards you. --Addison.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(yearns, yearning, yearned) If someone yearns for something that they are unlikely to get, they want it very much. He yearned for freedom... I yearned to be a movie actor. = long VERB: V for n, V to-inf

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Long, be eager, feel a strong desire, long fondly, long pityingly.

Moby Thesaurus

ache, covet, crave, desire, dream, fancy, hanker, hunger, itch, long, lust, pant, pine, prefer, thirst, want, wish, yen