Definition of "wane" in English

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.

3. (literary) The end of a period.

   • ]

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.

verb

1. (intransitive) To progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc.; to decline.

2. (intransitive) For light to dim or diminish in strength.

3. (intransitive, astronomy) For the Moon to pass through the phases of its monthly cycle where its surface is less and less visible.

4. (intransitive) Said of a time period that comes to an end.

5. (intransitive, archaic) To decrease physically in size, amount, numbers or surface.

6. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to decrease.

noun

1. (Scotland, slang) A child.

noun

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