What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Wane vs Wear - What's the difference?

wane | wear |

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.

As a verb wane

is (label) to progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc; to decline.

As a proper noun wear is

a river in the county of tyne and wear in north east england the city of sunderland is found upon its banks.

wane

English

Etymology 1

The noun is derived from (etyl) ("-ig" being a derivatem suffix, "-er" the suffix of comparatives).

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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,
  • 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, [...].
  • * 1913 , Michael Ott, The Catholic Encyclopedia , "",
  • His influence which was on the wane during the reign of Joseph II grew still less during the reign of Leopold II (1790-2).
  • The lunar phase during which the sun seems to illuminate less of the moon as its sunlit area becomes less visible from Earth.
  • * 1926 , ",
  • 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.
  • (literary) The end of a period.
  • * 1845 , ,
  • The situation of the Venetian party in the wane of the eighteenth century had become extremely critical.
  • (woodworking) A rounded corner caused by lack of wood, often showing bark.
  • * 2002 , Peter Ross, Appraisal and Repair of Timber Structures , 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, decline
    Usage notes
    * When referring to the moon or a time period, the word is found mostly in prepositional phrases like (term) or (term).

    Verb

    (wan)
  • (label) To progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc.; to decline.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • You saw but sorrow in its waning form.
  • * Sir (Josiah Child) (1630-1699)
  • Land and trade ever will wax and wane together.
  • * 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) , :
  • 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.
  • * 1902 , (John Masefield), "":
  • And in the cool twilight when the sea-winds wane
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title= “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./1/1
  • , 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), :
  • The skies may hold not the splendour of sundown fast; / It wanes into twilight as dawn dies down into day.
  • 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 , "":
  • The fall of Jack, and the subsequent fall of Jill, simply represent the vanishing of one moon-spot after another, as the moon wanes .
  • (label) Said of a time period that comes to an end.
  • * 1894 , (Algernon Charles Swinburne), "":
  • Fast as autumn days toward winter: yet it seems//Here that autumn wanes not, here that woods and streams
  • To decrease physically in size, amount, numbers or surface.
  • * 1815 , (Walter Scott), (Guy Mannering) , chapter XIX:
  • The snow which had been for some time waning , had given way entirely under the fresh gale of the preceding night.
  • * {{quote-web, date=2012-08-30, author=Ann Gibbons, site=Science Now
  • , title= 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.}}
  • To cause to decrease.
  • (Ben Jonson)
  • * 1797 , (Anna Seward), Letter to Mrs Childers of Yorkshire :
  • Proud once and princely was the mansion, ere a succession of spendthrifts waned away its splendour.
    Antonyms
    * wax
    Derived terms
    * wax and wane

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) wean.

    Alternative forms

    * wain, waine, wean

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Scotland, slang) A child.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) , of unclear origins, compare wont.

    Alternative forms

    * wone (Southern England)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (chiefly, Northern England, and, Scotland, obsolete) A house or dwelling.
  • Anagrams

    * * * ----

    wear

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) weren, werien, from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l) (Scotland)

    Verb

  • To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.
  • To defend; protect.
  • To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.
  • to wear the wolf from the sheep
  • To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) weren, werien, from (etyl) , (etyl) gwisgo, (etyl) waš- .

    Verb

  • To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, etc.
  • :
  • *
  • *:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=5 citation , passage=‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’}}
  • To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner.
  • :
  • *, chapter=10
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}
  • To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance.
  • :
  • To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation.
  • :
  • To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.
  • :
  • (lb) To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use.
  • :
  • *Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • *:His stock of money began to wear very low.
  • * (1804-1881)
  • *:The familywore out in the earlier part of the century.
  • To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.  His neverending criticism has finally worn' my patience.  Toil and care soon '''wear''' the spirit.  Our physical advantage allowed us to ' wear the other team out
  • (lb) To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate.
  • :
  • (in the phrase "wearing on (someone) ") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience.
  • :
  • To pass slowly, gradually or tediously.
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Away, I say; time wears .
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:Thus wore out night.
  • (lb) To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind. Also written "ware". Past: weared, or wore/worn.
  • Derived terms
    * outworn * wear away * wear down * wear off * wear out, worn out, worn-out * wear thin * wear something on one's sleeve, wear one's heart on one's sleeve * wear rose-colored glasses * wearable * wearer * worse for wear
    See also
    * (l) *

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable) (in combination ) clothing
  • footwear'''; outdoor '''wear'''; maternity '''wear
  • (uncountable) damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time
  • * 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
  • Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.
  • (uncountable) fashion
  • * Shakespeare
  • Motley's the only wear .