wanse
"wanse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wanse” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To wane; waste, waste away; pine; wither.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wanse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wanse” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wanse is 5 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To wane; waste, waste away; pine; wither.".
Zero misspellings are on record for wanse in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wansen (“to decrease, diminish”), from Old English wansian (“to diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wansōn, a variant of *wanisōn, from Proto-Germanic *wanisōną (“to lessen”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”). Cognate with O… The correct English form is wanse, spelled W-A-N-S-E.
Definition
- 1To wane; waste, waste away; pine; wither.
Etymology
From Middle English wansen (“to decrease, diminish”), from Old English wansian (“to diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wansōn, a variant of *wanisōn, from Proto-Germanic *wanisōną (“to lessen”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”). Cognate with Old Norse vansa (“to do too little, suffer loss”), Old Norse vansi (“lack, want”). More at wane.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “wanse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-A-N-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.