weyven

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman weyver, from waif, from Old Norse veif (“flag”); equivalent to weif +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Alternative forms

• weyve, wayve, weive, wayfe, wayvye, wayven, veyfen, waifen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwæi̯vən/
• (Northern ME) IPA^(key): /ˈwaːvən/

Verb

weyven

1. To decide not to engage in or with something; to ignore one's right to do something:
   2. To refuse to perform a task or job or take on a duty.
   3. To waive, renounce or reject something; to give up or go without. (e.g. a cause, a luxury, or a plot of land)
   4. To abscond; to sign out or relieve oneself.
2. To avoid or to resist engaging in something:
   1. To withstand attack or tempting; to remain unbroken or resistant.
   2. To escape from something; to elude or remain unfindable.
3. To block; to prevent:
   1. To dismiss; to send away or drive away.
   2. To eliminate, to get rid of or purge.
   3. To deem illegal; to declare someone to be a criminal.
   4. To distract; to stop from entering.
4. To facilitate the passage of something to someone.
5. To surrender; to admit or acknowledge defeat.

Conjugation

Conjugation of weyven (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) weyven, weyve
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	weyve	weyved
2nd-person singular	weyvest	weyvedest
3rd-person singular	weyveth	weyved
subjunctive singular	weyve
imperative singular		—
plural1	weyven, weyve	weyveden, weyvede
imperative plural	weyveth, weyve	—
participles	weyvynge, weyvende	weyved, yweyved

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Quotations

• c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Manciple’s Tale:

  Lat take a cat, and fostre hym wel with milk, / And tendre flessh, and make his couche of silk, / And lat hym seen a mous go by the wal, / Anon he weyveth milk and flessh and al […].

  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: waive
• Scots: wave (obsolete)

References

• “weiven, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-12.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse veifa, from Proto-Germanic *waibijaną.

Alternative forms

• weyve, wayve, wayf, wayfe, wayven, veyven

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwæi̯vən/

Verb

weyven

2. To shake, waver or totter; to move to and fro:
   1. To dangle; to sway to and fro while suspended.
   2. To move about; to travel aimlessly or erratically.
   3. (figurative, rare) To be easily convinced to change course; to be uncertain.
      • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

        ye been so ful of sapience / That yow ne liketh, for youre heighe prudence, / To weyven fro the word of Salomon.

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. To cause to shake, waver or totter; to push around:
   1. (rare) To open, to lift up.
   2. (figurative, rare) To make oneself distracted.

Conjugation

Conjugation of weyven (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) weyven, weyve
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	weyve	weyved
2nd-person singular	weyvest	weyvedest
3rd-person singular	weyveth	weyved
subjunctive singular	weyve
imperative singular		—
plural1	weyven, weyve	weyveden, weyvede
imperative plural	weyveth, weyve	—
participles	weyvynge, weyvende	weyved, yweyved

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: waive

References

• “weiven, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-12.