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Webster 1913 Edition

Yawn

Yawn

(ya̤n)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Yawned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Yawning
.]
[OE.
yanien
,
ȝanien
,
ganien
,
gonien
, AS.
gānian
; akin to
ginian
to yawn,
gīnan
to yawn, open wide, G.
gähnen
to yawn, OHG.
ginēn
,
geinōn
, Icel.
gīna
to yawn,
gin
the mouth, OSlav.
zijati
to yawn, L.
hiare
to gape, yawn; and perhaps to E.
begin
, cf. Gr.
χειά
a hole. √47b. Cf.
Begin
,
Gin
to begin,
Hiatus
.]
1.
To open the mouth involuntarily through drowsiness, dullness, or fatigue; to gape; to oscitate.
“The lazy, yawning drone.”
Shak.
And while above he spends his breath,
The
yawning
audience nod beneath.
Trumbull.
2.
To open wide; to gape, as if to allow the entrance or exit of anything.
’t is now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards
yawn
.
Shakespeare
3.
To open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or bewilderment.
Shak.
4.
To be eager; to desire to swallow anything; to express desire by yawning;
as, to
yawn
for fat livings
.
“One long, yawning gaze.”
Landor.

Yawn

,
Noun.
1.
An involuntary act, excited by drowsiness, etc., consisting of a deep and long inspiration following several successive attempts at inspiration, the mouth, fauces, etc., being wide open.
One person yawning in company will produce a spontaneous
yawn
in all present.
N. Chipman.
2.
The act of opening wide, or of gaping.
Addison.
3.
A chasm, mouth, or passageway.
[R.]
Now gape the graves, and trough their
yawns
let loose
Imprisoned spirits.
Marston.

Webster 1828 Edition

Yawn

YAWN

,
Verb.
I.
[G., Gr.]
1.
To gape; to oscitate; to have the mouth open involuntarily through drowsiness or dullness.
The lazy, yawning drone.
And while above he spends his breath, the yawning audience nod beneath.
2.
To open wide; as, wide yawns the gulf below.
3.
To express desire by yawning; as, to yawn for fat livings.

YAWN

,
Noun.
1.
A gaping; an involuntary opening of the mouth from drowsiness; oscitation.
One person yawning in company will produce a spontaneous yawn in all present.
2.
An opening wide.

Definition 2024

yawn

yawn

English

A kitten yawning.

Verb

yawn ‎(third-person singular simple present yawns, present participle yawning, simple past and past participle yawned)

  1. To open the mouth widely and take a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired and sometimes accompanied by pandiculation.
    I could see my students yawning, so I knew the lesson was boring them.
    • Trumbull
      And while above he spends his breath, / The yawning audience nod beneath.
  2. To present a wide opening.
    The canyon yawns as it has done for millions of years, and we stand looking, dumbstruck.
    Death yawned before us, and I hit the brakes.
    • Shakespeare
      'Tis now the very witching time of night, / When churchyards yawn.
  3. To open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or bewilderment.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  4. To be eager; to desire to swallow anything; to express desire by yawning.
    to yawn for fat livings
    • Landor
      one long, yawning gaze

Translations

Noun

yawn ‎(plural yawns)

  1. The action of yawning; opening the mouth widely and taking a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired.
  2. A particularly boring event.
    The slideshow we sat through was such a yawn. I was glad when it finished.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

References

  1. ↑ Pokorny (1959:419-422): "g̑hē- : ghə-, and g̑hēi- 'to gape, yawn'"
  2. ↑ Pokorny (1959:449): "g̑hēu- : g̑hō(u)- : g̑həu- 'to gape, yawn'"

Etymology

Partly from Middle English yanen ‎(“to yawn”), from Old English ġānian, from Proto-Germanic *ganōną (compare North Frisian jåne, Saterland Frisian jaanje, Dutch geeuwen, German gähnen, dialectal Swedish gana ‎(“to gape, gawk”)), denominative of *ganaz (compare Swedish gan ‎(“gullet, maw”)); and partly from Middle English yenen, yonen ‎(“to yawn”), from Old English ġinian, ġionian, frequentative of ġīnan, from Proto-Germanic *gīnaną (compare Norwegian gina ‎(“to gape”)), all from the Germanic root *gīn-.

The Germanic forms are from a Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰei- or *ǵʰeh₂-;[1] compare Old Church Slavonic зѣѭ ‎(zějǫ) (Russian зи́нуть ‎(zínutʹ), зия́ть ‎(zijátʹ)), Greek χαίνω ‎(khaínō)), Latin hiō, Tocharian A śew, Tocharian B kāyā, Lithuanian žioti, Russian, Sanskrit जेह् ‎(jeh); also with -u- extension (*ǵʰ(e)h₂u-)[2] in English gum (Germanic *gōmô), Greek χάος ‎(kháos).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: yôn, IPA(key): /jɔːn/
  • Rhymes: -ɔːn
  • (US) enPR: yôn, IPA(key): /jɔn/
  • (cot–caught merger) enPR: yän, IPA(key): /jɑn/

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