Etymology : Middle English yernen, from Old English giernan; akin to Old High German gerOn to desire, Latin hortari to urge, encourage, Greek chairein to rejoice
Pronunciation : 'y&rn
Function : intransitive verb
Date : before 12th century
1. desire, long, crave; pine, miss someone or something. yearn\yearn\, v. i. to be pained or distressed; to grieve; to mourn. [obs.] "falstaff he is dead, and we must yearn therefore."yearn \yearn\, v. i. & t. [see:
yearnings.] to curdle, as milk. [scot.]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. girī greed, ger desirous, gerōn to desire, g. begehren, icel. girna to desire, gjarn eager, goth. fa?huga?rns covetous, ga?rnjan to desire, and perhaps to gr. chai`rein to rejoice, be glad, skr. hary to desire, to like. ?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. xliii.
2. your mother's heart yearns towards you.yearn \yearn\ (y&etilde;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." it yearns me not if men my garments wear.yearn v.
3. desire strongly or persistently [syn: hanker, long].
4. have a yen for [syn: long, ache, yen, pine, languish].
5. have affection for; feel tenderness for.
6. To pain; to grieve; to vex.
7. To be pained or distressed; to grieve; to mourn.
8. To curdle, as milk.
9. 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. have affection for; feel tenderness for.
10. 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. to have a strong desire for something, especially something that is difficult or impossible to get = long yearn for.