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Pine vs Wither - What's the difference?

pine | wither | Synonyms |

In intransitive terms the difference between pine and wither

is that pine is to long, to yearn so much that it causes suffering while wither is to become helpless due to emotion.

In transitive terms the difference between pine and wither

is that pine is to inflict pain upon; to torment; to torture; to afflict while wither is to make helpless due to emotion.

As verbs the difference between pine and wither

is that pine is to languish; to lose flesh or wear away through distress; to droop while wither is to go against, resist; oppose.

As a noun pine

is any coniferous tree of the genus Pinus.

As an adverb wither is

against, in opposition to.

pine

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

  • (countable, uncountable) Any coniferous tree of the genus Pinus .
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess), chapter=3 citation , passage=Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine , while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.}}
  • (countable) Any tree (usually coniferous) which resembles a member of this genus in some respect.
  • (uncountable) The wood of this tree.
  • (archaic) A pineapple.
  • Synonyms
    * (tree of genus Pinus) pine tree * (wood) pinewood
    Derived terms
    * bunya pine * hoop pine * Huon pine * jack pine * Norfolk Island pine * pineal * pineapple * * * pinecone, pine cone * * pine needle * pine nut * * * pine tar * pine tree * * stone pine * white pine * Wollemi pine * yellow pine

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) . Cognate to (m). Entered Germanic with Christianity; cognate to (etyl) (m), (etyl) (m), (etyl) (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) A painful longing.
  • Verb

    (pin)
  • To languish; to lose flesh or wear away through distress; to droop.
  • * Tickell
  • The roses wither and the lilies pine .
  • To long, to yearn so much that it causes suffering.
  • Laura was pining for Bill all the time he was gone.
  • * 1855 , John Sullivan Dwight (translator), “Oh Holy Night”, as printed in 1871, Adolphe-Charles Adam (music), “Cantique de Noël”, G. Schirmer (New York), originally by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure, 1847
  • Long lay the world in sin and error pining / Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth
  • * {{quote-book, year=1994
  • , author=(Walter Dean Myers) , title=The Glory Field , chapter= , pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=_ePdzF_m3V4C&q=%22pined%22 citation , isbn=978054505575 , page=29 , passage=The way the story went was that the man's foot healed up all right but that he just pined away.}}
  • To grieve or mourn for.
  • (Milton)
  • To inflict pain upon; to torment; to torture; to afflict.
  • * Bishop Hall
  • One is pined in prison, another tortured on the rack.

    References

    wither

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete, or, chiefly in compounds) Against, in opposition to.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To go against, resist; oppose.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To shrivel, droop or dry up, especially from lack of water.
  • To cause to shrivel or dry up.
  • * Bible, Matthew xii. 10
  • There was a man which had his hand withered .
  • * Shakespeare
  • This is man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered .
  • * Dryden
  • now warm in love, now with'ring in the grave
  • (figurative) To lose vigour or power; to languish; to pass away.
  • * Byron
  • names that must not wither
  • * Cowper
  • States thrive or wither as moons wax and wane.
  • To become helpless due to emotion.
  • To make helpless due to emotion.
  • Usage notes
    * Not to be confused with whither .

    Anagrams

    * whiter, writhe