▪ I. yearn, n.
(jɜːn)
[f. next.]
A yearning.
| a 1797 M. Wollstonecraft Wks. (1798) III. xliv. 134, I feel my fate united to yours by..the yearns of..a true, unsophisticated heart. 1853 Kingsley Misc., Shelley & Byron (1859) I. 307 In one mighty yearn after that beauty from which he is debarred, [Keats] breaks his young heart, and dies. 1862 ‘Artemus Ward’ His Bk. (1865) 35 ‘Hast thou not yearned for me?’ she yelled... ‘Not a yearn!’ I bellered. 1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. I. v. 106 The rounds of her canvas whitened into marble hardness with the yearn and lean of the distended cloths. |
▪ II. yearn, v.1
(jɜːn)
Forms: 1 ᵹiorna, ᵹeornan, ᵹiernan, ᵹirnan, ᵹyrnan, 2–4 ȝierne, ierne, 2–5 ȝerne, 3 ȝirn(e, (Orm.) ȝeorrnenn, 3–4 ȝorn(e 3–6 ȝern, 4 ȝiern, yhern(e, ȝharn(e, ȝaren, 4–5 ȝyrn(e, 4–6 ȝarn(e, yarne, 4–7 yerne, 4–8 yern, 5 yurn, herne, 6 yo(u)rn, Sc. ȝairne, yairne, 6–7 yearne, 6– yearn.
[OE., Northumb. ᵹiorna, Mercian ᵹeornan, WS. ᵹiernan, corresp. to OS. girnean, gernean, ON. girna (see green v.2), Goth. ga{iacu}rnjan, related to OE. ᵹeorn, Goth. -ga{iacu}rns: see yern a. and yere v.]
I. † 1. trans. To desire earnestly; to experience a strong desire or longing for. a. with simple obj.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xv, Ne diorwyrðra hræᵹla hi ne ᵹirndan. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xxii. 71 Hwi ᵹyrne we ᵹyt ᵹewitnesse? c 1100 O.E. Chron. (MS. D) an. 1067 Ða begann se cyngc Malcholom ᵹyrnan his sweostor him to wife. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 43 Ðare ðinge ðe on ðesse worlde waren he ne ȝernde. c 1205 Lay. 17795 Cnihtes feollen a-dun & ȝirnden heore dæðes. a 1225 Ancr. R. 192 Muche word is of ou hu..ȝe beoð vor godleic & for ureoleic iȝerned of monie. a 1300 Cursor M. 23458 Fair Iuels..men yerns oft. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 152 Þis man wole no þyng yerne But youre honour. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Verse) 485 Mor we suld ȝern hele of saule Þan of bodi. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1407 For þat þou art brent With couetyse now,..þou ȝernest soules cure. a 1450 Ratis Raving 3790 At E nocht seis, hart nocht ȝarnis. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxi. 19 We ȝarne thy presens, bot oft thow hes refusit Till cum ws till. 1568 Lauder Godlie Tractate 627 That death ȝe ȝairne, it sall fast frome ȝow fle. |
† b. with obj. clause. Obs.
| c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xliv. 331 Hwile ðe he ᵹiernð ðæt he his weolan iece. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 8 Ne ᵹyrne ᵹe þæt eow man lareowas nemne. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. vi. 28 Lest eny reve me my make, ychabbe y-ȝyrned ȝore. 13.. Cursor M. 1801 (Gött.) Þai ȝernid þan, þa caitifes madd, Þat þai had ben wid noe stadd. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (Andrew) 423, I ȝarne þe Of corse to here þe priwete. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. ii. 260 Octoviane ȝarnyt hym to be His ayr. |
2. intr. To have a strong desire or longing; to long. a. Const. inf. with († or without) to.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 53 Þa halᵹan..naht ne..ᵹyrndon to hæbbenne. c 1000 Poenitentiale Ecgberti i. §10 in Thorpe Laws II. 176 Ᵹif se man..ᵹyrneð Cristes lichaman to underfonne. c 1200 Ormin 3578 Crist wass æfre swillc to sen..Þatt gode ȝeorrndenn himm to sen. a 1300 Cursor M. 1 Man yhernes rimes for to here. Ibid. 6479 Þi neghbur wijf ȝerne noght at haue. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6705 For hungre þai sal yherne it ete. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 158 The kynryk ȝharn I nocht to have. a 1395 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xvi, Ȝit shalt thou ȝerne..for to come as nere as þou mayst to þat state. a 1568 Wowing of Jok and Jynny 9 in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 387, I yern full fane To..sit down by yow. a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Bonduca ii. iv, I must do that my heart-strings yern to do. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 142 ¶3 My gushing Heart, that..yearns to tell you all its Achings. 1805 Southey Madoc ii. xiii, A female tenderness which yearn'd, As with maternal love, to cherish him. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop lv, The child yearned to be out of doors. 1879 Dixon Windsor II. iv. 38 He had a daughter whom he yearned to hail as queen. |
b. Const. after, for, † to, towards. Also absol.
| c 893 ælfred Oros. vi. xxviii, He ofsloᵹ Proculus & Bonorum, þa ᵹierndon eac æfter þæ m onwalde. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 27 Þe godfrihte..ne ȝierneð to none þinge bute after godes wille. Ibid. 183 Ðus wareð þe sowle þe licame, for þat hit haueð þarafter ierned. a 1225 Juliana 8 He biȝet et te keiser þat he him ȝettede reue to beonne as þat he iȝirnd hefde. 1340 Ayenb. 55 Þe þridde boȝ of þise zenne is to uerliche yerne to þe mete ase deþ þe hond. 1357 Lay Folks Catech. (T.) 560 Tham that ledis thair lifs als thaire flesch yhernes. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2937 Yonge men & yeuerus..yurnes to gaumes. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 750 Thay pepill..That..ȝarnis for fude with sa greit zeill. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1688) IV. 503 His Maw began to yern again after some of the Figs. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 367 His heart yearned after the damsel who was to inherit these domains. 1868 Tennyson Lucretius 266 Yearn'd after by the wisest of the wise. 1870 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 440, I yearn for the country again. |
| transf. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. 213 Sacriledge is one of the most detestable sinnes, after which Gods curse yearneth, til he be revenged. |
† 3. trans. To express a wish or desire for (an object); to ask for, request. Also absol. or intr.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark x. 46 Mendicans, ᵹiornade [Rushw. ᵹiornde]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark xi. 24 Swa hwæt swa ᵹe ᵹyrnende biddað ᵹelyfað þæt ᵹe hit onfoð. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 656 Þa ᵹeornde seo abbe þet he scolde him tyþian þet he æt him ᵹeornde. Ibid. 777 He ᵹeornde at se kyning þet he scolde for his luuen freon his ane mynstre Wooingas het. Ibid. 1011 Se cyng & his witan..ᵹeorndon friðes. c 1205 Lay. 929 Ȝirne we to þane kinge Ȝeuen suiðe gode. Ibid. 8250 King Androgeus ȝeorneð þi grið. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2420 Lauerd,..ȝette me þet ich ȝirne. 1340 Ayenb. 39 Þe uerþe boȝ of auarice is acsynge, þet is, to yerne opo oþre mid wrong. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 67 Ȝernes now of my ȝift þat ȝou leue were, & what it be þat ȝe bidde ȝour bonus i graunte. |
† 4. intr. Of hounds: To cry out eagerly, give tongue. Also trans. to give tongue after. Obs.
| 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1409 The howndes began to yerne and to quest. a 1530 Heywood Weather (Brandl) 276 That after our houndes yournynge so meryly,..In herynge we may folow. 1576 Turberv. Venerie lxv. 181 You muste holde your yong Terryers euery one of them at a sundrie hole of some angle or mouth of the earth, that they may herken and heare theyr fellowes yearne. Ibid. lxvi. 185 When they percieue the Terryers beginne to yearne them. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recr. i. (1677) 18 When Beagles bark and cry at their Prey, we say, they Yearn. |
† b. transf. Obs.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 100 Nymphs in mountayns high typ doe squeak, hullelo, yearning. 1639 G. Daniel Ecclus. xxii. 4 He shall be soiled in the vnsavory Slime From Dunghills gather'd; all Men yerne at him. 1680 Hickeringill Curse ye Meroz 26 A Holder-forth may yawl and yerne, snivle and whine, thump and bawl. |
5. a. intr. To give a sound suggestive of strong desire; to express yearning or strong desire; also trans. to utter in emotional voice.
| 1816 L. Hunt Rimini i. 40 Yearns the deep talk, the ready laugh ascends. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes vii, The music, yearning like a God in pain. 1856 Dickens Househ. Words 3 May 368/2 While the organ was yearning its last, and the great throng was pushing to the doors. 1894 Le Gallienne Prose Fancies 22 The kind of voice..in which Socialist actresses yearn out passages from ‘The Cenci’. |
b. To have an appearance as of longing.
| 1870 Rossetti Burden of Nineveh ix, The faces of thy ministers Yearned pale with bitter ecstasy. 1871 Swinburne Songs bef. Sunrise, Tenebrae 92 The blossom of man from his tomb Yearns open. 1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. I. v. 95 The jibs yearning from their sheets taut as fiddle-strings. |
II. 6. intr. To be deeply moved; to be moved with compassion; to have tender feelings; † to mourn, grieve. In first quot. app. trans. to have compassion upon.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxv. 11 Ȝerne ws, guberne, wirgin matern. a 1533 Frith Another Bk. agst. Rastell ii. B iv, The..slender reasons that those ii. wytted men, syr Thomas More and my lorde of Rochestre had brought to confyrme purgatory made my harte to yerne. 1539 Bible (Great) 1 Kings iii. 26 Her bowelles yerned vpon her sonne. 1562 Cooper Answ. Priv. Masse (1850) 56 Any christian heart may rather yearn and lament to remember so ungodly profanation of the holy sacrament. 1577 Harrison England ii. x. (1877) i. 217 To raise pitifull and odious sores, and mooue the goers by such places where they lie, to yerne at their miserie. 1602 Davison Rhapsody (1611) 30 They in their bleating voice did seeme to yearne. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, ci, The horror of Imaginary Death Strikes deep w{supt}{suph} flesh; and all Mortalitye Yernes at a Change. 1665 R. Brathwait Comm. Two Tales (1901) 21 It would make any ones heart yern within him, that has any man's blood in him. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 123 ¶5, I have left your Mother in the next Room. Her Heart yearns towards you. 1848 Dickens Dombey xliii, With her gentle nature yearning to them both, feeling the misery of both. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxii. (1878) 406 My heart was yearning over her. |
† b. To be reluctant to do something. Obs. rare.
| 1597 Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 53 [He] committed such excesse of crueltie, that the most barbarous heathen in the world would haue yearned to doe. |
† 7. trans. To cause to mourn; to move to compassion. Obs.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 76 O how it yern'd my heart, when I beheld..That horse. 1598 ― Merry W. iii. v. 45 She laments Sir for it, that it would yern your heart to see it. 1641 J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 94 Who..torture them, in that manner, that it yerns a mans bowels to observe! |
Hence yearned ppl. a.; also ˈyearner, one who yearns.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 724 Lofare of vertu & dyspysare Of þe warld, of hewine ȝ arnar. 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. xlii, That his long yearn'd life Were quite out-spun. 1838 S. Bellamy Betrayal 82 What if that vow Thy Father's yearn'd heart, all impatiently, Hath quench'd in its embrace. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 30 Oct. 10/1 The yearned-for visitor. 1915 A. Bennett Over There 186 The yearners after Calais did themselves no good by exterminating fine architecture and breaking up innocent homes, but they did experience the relief of smashing something. |
▪ III. yearn, v.2 Chiefly north. dial. and Sc.
(jɜːn)
Forms: 4 yern, 6 Sc. yyrne, 8– yirn, 7– yearn.
[Probably dial. variant of earn v.2, with initial y-glide; cf. yearth, etc. Continuity with OE. ᵹeyrnan (pa. pple. ᵹeurnen) is improbable.]
a. intr. To coagulate, curdle. b. trans. To curdle (milk), esp. for making into cheese; to make (cheese) of curdled milk. Hence yearned ppl. a.
| 1371–3 [implied in yearning vbl. n.2]. a 1568 Wyfe of Auchtermuchty xi. (Bann. MS.) He het the milk our hett, And sorrow spark of it wald yyrne. 1635 D. Dickson Pract. Wks. (1845) I. 33 The making of cheese of yearned milk. ? 17.. Gaberlunyie Man vi. in Songs of Scotl. (1862) 177 The kirn's to kirn, and milk to yirne. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxxix, His honour the Duke will accept ane of our Dunlop cheeses, and it sall be my faut if a better was ever yearned in Lowden. 1866 ‘Sarah Tytler’ Days of Yore II. 219 Mrs. Hoy was salting Elspa's butter, and ‘yearning’ her cheese. 1868 R. L. Stevenson in Scribner's Mag. (1899) XXV. 36/2 Curds called ‘yearned milk’ hereaway. |
▪ IV. yearn, (yarn(e, yern(e), v.3
obs. or dial. f. earn v.1
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Þat he eorðlic man sceolde ȝeðeon, and ȝearnian mid admodnisse þet wuniunge on hefen rice. c 1530 Crt. Love 367 Thy-self art never like to yern..her mercy. 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. xxxvi, Beware they threshe clene, though the lesser they yarne. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. i. 40 Put away proud looke, and vsage sterne, The which shal nought to you but foule dishonor yearne. ? c 1600 Distr. Emperor ii. i. in Bullen Old Pl. (1884) III. 189 Those worthye deeds Whereby y'ave yearn'd all wellcome. 1626 Essex Archdeaconries, Depos. Bk. 27 June lf. 77 (MS.) He sayd that he was ever yearning of money. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 359/2 She..told me, I must look out and yearn my own living. |
▪ V. yearn
obs. Sc. f. erne, eagle.
| 1790 Burns Elegy on Capt. M― H― iii, Ye cliffs, the haunts of sailing yearns. |
▪ VI. yearn(e
obs. ff. yarn.