Wane vs Undermine - What's the difference?
wane | undermine |
A gradual diminution in power, value, intensity etc.
* 1853 , , "Bartleby, the Scrivener," in Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories'', New York: Penguin, 1968; reprinted 1995 as ''Bartleby , ISBN 0146000129, p. 3,
* 1913 , Michael Ott, The Catholic Encyclopedia , "",
The lunar phase during which the sun seems to illuminate less of the moon as its sunlit area becomes less visible from Earth.
* 1926 , ",
(literary) The end of a period.
* 1845 , ,
(woodworking) A rounded corner caused by lack of wood, often showing bark.
* 2002 , Peter Ross, Appraisal and Repair of Timber Structures ,
(label) To progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc.; to decline.
* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
* Sir (Josiah Child) (1630-1699)
* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) , :
* 1902 , (John Masefield), "":
*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title=
, passage=And so it had always pleased M. Stutz to expect great things from the dark young man whom he had first seen in his early twenties?; and his expectations had waxed rather than waned on hearing the faint bruit of the love of Ivor and Virginia—for Virginia, M. Stutz thought, would bring fineness to a point in a man like Ivor Marlay, […].}}
(label) Said of light that dims or diminishes in strength.
* 1894 , (Algernon Charles Swinburne), :
Said of the Moon as it passes through the phases of its monthly cycle where its surface is less and less visible.
* 1866 , (Sabine Baring-Gould), Curious Myths of the Middle Ages , "":
(label) Said of a time period that comes to an end.
* 1894 , (Algernon Charles Swinburne), "":
To decrease physically in size, amount, numbers or surface.
* 1815 , (Walter Scott), (Guy Mannering) , chapter XIX:
* {{quote-web, date=2012-08-30, author=Ann Gibbons, site=Science Now
, title= To cause to decrease.
* 1797 , (Anna Seward),
To dig underneath (something), to make a passage or for destructive or military purposes; to sap.
* 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, p. 312:
(figuratively) To weaken or work against; to hinder, sabotage.
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
, title=
As verbs the difference between wane and undermine
is that wane is (label) to progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc; to decline while undermine is to dig underneath (something), to make a passage or for destructive or military purposes; to sap.As a noun wane
is a gradual diminution in power, value, intensity etc or wane can be (scotland|slang) a child or wane can be (chiefly|northern england|and|scotland|obsolete) a house or dwelling.wane
English
Etymology 1
The noun is derived from (etyl) ("-ig" being a derivatem suffix, "-er" the suffix of comparatives).Noun
(en noun)- In the morning, one might say, his face was of a fine florid hue, but after twelve o'clock, meridian -- his dinner hour -- it blazed like a grate full of Christmas coals; and continued blazing -- but, as it were, with a gradual wane -- till six o'clock, PM, or thereabouts; after which, I saw no more of the proprietor of the face, [...].
- His influence which was on the wane during the reign of Joseph II grew still less during the reign of Leopold II (1790-2).
- It was very dark, for although the sky was clear the moon was now well in the wane , and would not rise till the small hours.
- The situation of the Venetian party in the wane of the eighteenth century had become extremely critical.
p. 11,
- Sapwood, or even bark, may appear on the corners, or may have been cut off, resulting in wane , or missing timber.
Synonyms
* decrease, declineUsage notes
* When referring to the moon or a time period, the word is found mostly in prepositional phrases like (term) or (term).Verb
(wan)- You saw but sorrow in its waning form.
- Land and trade ever will wax and wane together.
- I have sat before the dense coal fire and watched it all aglow, full of its tormented flaming life; and I have seen it wane at last, down, down, to dumbest dust.
- And in the cool twilight when the sea-winds wane
“Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./1/1
- The skies may hold not the splendour of sundown fast; / It wanes into twilight as dawn dies down into day.
- The fall of Jack, and the subsequent fall of Jill, simply represent the vanishing of one moon-spot after another, as the moon wanes .
- Fast as autumn days toward winter: yet it seems//Here that autumn wanes not, here that woods and streams
- The snow which had been for some time waning , had given way entirely under the fresh gale of the preceding night.
Genome Brings Ancient Girl to Life, accessdate=2012-09-04 , passage=Denisovans had little genetic diversity, suggesting that their small population waned further as populations of modern humans expanded.}}
- (Ben Jonson)
Letter to Mrs Childers of Yorkshire:
- Proud once and princely was the mansion, ere a succession of spendthrifts waned away its splendour.
Antonyms
* waxDerived terms
* wax and waneEtymology 2
From (etyl) wean.Alternative forms
* wain, waine, weanEtymology 3
From (etyl) , of unclear origins, compare wont.Alternative forms
* wone (Southern England)Anagrams
* * * ----undermine
English
Verb
(undermin)- Martin, for instance, had on one occasion undermined a tree sacred to old gods, then stood in the path of its fall, but forced it to fall elsewhere by making the sign of the Cross.
Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?, passage=The growing use of social media to spread anger and dissent in the Arab world has been hailed by western governments as one of the chief justifications for a completely unfettered internet. The US is reportedly funding the secret rollout of technology in Iran in an effort to undermine internet censors in the country.}}