waxen
English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English waxen, from Old English weaxen, ġeweaxen, from Proto-Germanic *wahsanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *wahsijaną (“to wax, grow, increase”), equivalent to wax + -en (past participle ending).
Adjective[edit]
waxen (comparative more waxen, superlative most waxen)
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Verb[edit]
waxen
- (archaic) alternative past participle of wax.
- (obsolete) plural simple present of wax
- 1540, Great Bible, Second Edition, Preface
- And they that occupye them been in muche savegarde, and have greate consolacyon, and been the readyer unto all goodnesse, the slower to all evyll: and if they have done anything amysse, anone even by the sight of the bookes, theyr conscvences been admonished, and they waxen sory and ashamed of the facte.
- 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, →OCLC:
- When the rayne is faln, the cloudes wexen cleare.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there.
- 1540, Great Bible, Second Edition, Preface
Etymology 3[edit]
From Middle English waxen (“made of wax”), from Old English weaxen (“waxen, made of wax”), equivalent to wax + -en (“made of”).
Adjective[edit]
waxen (comparative more waxen, superlative most waxen)
- Made of or covered with wax.
- a waxen tablet
- c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
- She is fair; and so is Julia that I love—
That I did love, for now my love is thaw’d;
Which, like a waxen image, ’gainst a fire,
Bears no impression of the thing it was.
- Of or pertaining to wax.
- Having the pale smooth characteristics of wax, waxlike, waxy.
- 1950, Mervyn Peake, chapter 28, in Gormenghast[1], Penguin, published 1969, page 185:
- It was hard to imagine that the broken thing had once been new; that those withered, waxen cheeks had been fresh and tinted. That her eyes had long ago glinted with laughter.
- Easily molded, influenced, or bent; yielding, impressible.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXI, page 35:
- The traveller hears me now and then,
And sometimes harshly will he speak:
‘This fellow would make weakness weak,
And melt the waxen hearts of men.’
- (rare) Easily effaced, as if written in wax.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Old English weaxan, from Proto-West Germanic *wahsijan, from Proto-Germanic *wahsijaną.
Alternative forms[edit]
Verb[edit]
waxen
- To grow (become larger):
- To grow up; to become fully grown.
- c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)[2], published c. 1410, Matheu 13:31-32, page 6v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:
- An oþer parable iheſus puttide foꝛþ to hem. / ⁊ ſeide / þe kyngdom of heuenes is lijk to a coꝛn of ſeneuey · which a man took ⁊ ſewe in his feeld · / which is þe leeſt of alle ſeedis / but whanne it haþ woxen .· it is the mooſt of alle woꝛtis · ⁊ is maad a tre / ſo þe bꝛiddis of þe eir comen ⁊ dwellen in þe bowis þerof.
- Jesus put another parable forwards to them, saying: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in their field; / it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the largest of all plants; it becomes a tree, so the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."
- To wax (of the moon); to rise (of the tide).
- To grow up; to become fully grown.
- To increase in amount; to multiply
- To increase in magnitude; to magnify
- To appear; to arise.
- To change; to turn (to or into something)
- To become, to assume (a quality or state)
Usage notes[edit]
Already in Old English, this verb's conjugation varied; in Northumbria, the original class 6 conjugation was retained, while elsewhere, the verb went over to class 7; this variation persists in Middle English. Further variation results from levelling of forms during the Middle English period.
Conjugation[edit]
infinitive | (to) waxen, waxe | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | waxe | wex, wox, waxed | |
2nd-person singular | waxest, waxt | wexe, woxe, wex, wox, waxedest | |
3rd-person singular | waxeth, waxt | wex, wox, waxed | |
subjunctive singular | waxe | wexe1, woxe1, waxed1 | |
imperative singular | — | ||
plural2 | waxen, waxe | wexen, wexe, woxen, woxe, waxeden, waxede | |
imperative plural | waxeth, waxe | — | |
participles | waxynge, waxende | (y)waxen, (y)waxe, (y)woxen, (y)woxe, (y)wexen, (y)wexe, (y)waxed |
1Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
2Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “waxen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2[edit]
From wax (“wax”) + -en (infinitival suffix).
Alternative forms[edit]
Verb[edit]
waxen
Conjugation[edit]
1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Descendants[edit]
- English: wax
References[edit]
- “waxen, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3[edit]
From wax (“wax”) + -en (“made of”).
Adjective[edit]
waxen
Descendants[edit]
- English: waxen
References[edit]
- “waxen, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -en
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- British English
- English dialectal terms
- English non-lemma forms
- English verb forms
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with quotations
- English terms suffixed with -en (made of)
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with rare senses
- English adjectives ending in -en
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English verbs
- Middle English terms with quotations
- Middle English class 7 strong verbs
- Middle English class 6 strong verbs
- Middle English weak verbs
- Middle English terms suffixed with -en (infinitival)
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- Middle English terms suffixed with -en (made of)
- Middle English hapax legomena
- enm:Age
- enm:Materials
- enm:Moons
- enm:Oceanography
- enm:Size