Word of the Day

: May 4, 2011

wane

verb WAYN

What It Means

1 : to decrease in size, extent, or degree

2 : to fall gradually from power, prosperity, or influence

wane in Context

Jenna loved the movie at first, but her enthusiasm waned as the pace began to drag.

"Those foreclosure numbers aren't expected to wane anytime soon. RealtyTrac found that 2.9 million homes got foreclosure notices in 2010, with 20% more than that total expected to be in trouble this year." -- From an article in The Business Insider, March 19, 2011

Did You Know?

"Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour / Draws on apace / four happy days bring in / Another moon: But oh, methinks how slow / This old moon wanes!" So Theseus describes his eagerness for his wedding night in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. As illustrated by Theseus' words, "wane" is a word often called upon to describe the seeming decrease in size of the moon in the later phases of the lunar cycle. The traditional opposite of "wane" is "wax," a once common but now infrequently used synonym of "grow." "Wane" and "wax" have been partnered in reference to the moon since the Middle Ages.