# wane

> English word · Noun · IPA /weɪn/ · frequency rank #36,009

## Definitions
1. A gradual diminution in power, value, intensity etc.
2. The lunar phase during which the sun seems to illuminate less of the moon as its sunlit area becomes progressively smaller as visible from Earth.
3. The end of a period.
4. A rounded corner caused by lack of wood, often showing bark.

## Etymology
From Middle English wane, from Old English wana (“defect, shortage”), from Proto-West Germanic *wanō, from Proto-Germanic *wanô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to leave, abandon; empty, deserted”).
Cognates
See also wan-, want, and waste. Compare also Dutch waan (“insanity”) and German Wahn (“insanity”) deprecated defect, Old Norse vanr (“lacking”) ( > Danish prefix van-, only found in compounds), Latin vanus, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃 (wans, “missing, lacking”), Albanian vonë (“late, futile, mentally retarded”), Armenian ունայն (unayn, “empty”), Old Saxon and Old High German wanon (“to decrease”), Modern Dutch weinig (“a few”), Modern German weniger (“less”), comparative of wenig (“few”) (-ig being a derivate suffix; -er the suffix of comparatives). Doublet of vain, vaunt, vaniloquent, vast, vacuum, vacant, vacate, which are Latin-derived, via the PIE root.

## Easily confused with
- **we** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-we)
- **was** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-was)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-way)
- **war** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-war)
- **win** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-win)
- **won** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-won)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wwe)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wax)
- **wee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wee)
- **wen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wen)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wat)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-woe)
- **Wie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wie)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wye)
- **WAP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wap)
- **WAV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wav)
- **were** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-were)
- **want** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-want)
- **went** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-went)
- **wife** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wane-vs-wife)

## Common misspellings (5)
`awne`, `waen`, `wanne`, `wnae`, `wwane`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wane