yearn means A strong desire or longing; a yearning, a yen. It carries an Arena rating of 1844, earned across 18 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, yearn ranks #619 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,251 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,835 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #4,020 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
yearn is pronounced /jɜːn/.
Why “yearn” is a great word
To feel a deep, persistent, and often melancholy longing for something unattainable or lost. From Middle English *yernen*, from Old English *ġeornan* ("to desire, yearn; to beg"), from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan* ("to be eager for, desire"), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną* ("to desire, want"), from *gernaz* ("eager, willing")—itself from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer-* ("to yearn for")—plus the factitive suffix *-janą*. Unlike "crave," which suggests an urgent, bodily hunger, or "desire," a broad and practical wanting, to yearn is to be haunted by a wistful, emotional ache that outlasts satisfaction. It is the hollow in the chest at the scent of a perfume long discontinued, the habit of reaching for a hand absent for years, the way the throat tightens at a half-remembered melody—the body remembering what the mind has resigned to absence, a quiet testament to the heart's gravity, forever pulling toward an absent star.
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English yernen, yern (“to express or feel desire; to desire, long or wish for; to lust after; to ask or demand for”) [and other forms], from Old English ġeornan (“to desire, yearn; to beg”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan (“to be eager for, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną (“to desire, want”), from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives). The noun is derived from the verb.
noun
- A strong desire or longing; a yearning, a yen.e.g.“Gibbs now said he wasn't going to pull any punches with Gary when he knew how jealous a man could get, so he also wanted to tell him that Phil Hansen was reputed to have a yearn for attractive ladies.” — 1979, Norman Mailer, The Executioner's Song:
verb
- To have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.e.g.“All I yearn for is a simple life.”
- To have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.; To long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia.e.g.“If I don’t go now, thought Charlotte, I shall have lost a chance which I shall eternally regret and yearn after.” — 1971, Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published February 1972, →ISBN, page 420:
- Of music, words, etc.: to express strong desire or longing.e.g.“The music, yearning like a God in pain, / She scarcely heard: […]” — 1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza VII, page 86
- To have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc., toward someone.
- To be distressed or pained; to grieve; to mourn.
- Often followed by out: to perform (music) which conveys or say (words) which express strong desire or longing.
- To have a strong desire or longing (for something or to do something).
- To cause (someone) to have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc.; also, to grieve or pain (someone).
- Of milk: to curdle, especially in the cheesemaking process.
- Of cheese: to be made from curdled milk.
- To curdle (milk), especially in the cheesemaking process.
- To make (cheese) from curdled milk.e.g.“Also 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.” — 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume IV, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.]
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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