waxen

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English waxen, from Old English weaxen, ġeweaxen, from Proto-Germanic *wahsanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *wahsijaną (“to wax, grow, increase”), equivalent to wax +‎ -en (past participle ending).

Adjective

waxen (comparative more waxen, superlative most waxen)

1. (UK, dialectal) Grown.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Verb

waxen

1. (archaic) alternative past participle of wax.
2. (obsolete) plural simple present of wax
   • 1540, Great Bible, Second Edition, Preface

     And they that occupye them been in muche savegarde, and have greate consolacyon, and been the readyer unto all goodnesse, the slower to all evyll: and if they have done anything amysse, anone even by the sight of the bookes, theyr conscvences been admonished, and they waxen sory and ashamed of the facte.

   • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: , London: Hugh Singleton, , →OCLC; reprinted as H Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender , London: John C. Nimmo, , 1890, →OCLC:

     When the rayne is faln, the cloudes wexen cleare.

   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
     And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
     A merrier hour was never wasted there.

Etymology 3

From Middle English waxen (“made of wax”), from Old English weaxen (“waxen, made of wax”), equivalent to wax +‎ -en (“made of”).

Adjective

waxen (comparative more waxen, superlative most waxen)

2. Made of or covered with wax.

   a waxen tablet

   • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     She is fair; and so is Julia that I love—
     That I did love, for now my love is thaw’d;
     Which, like a waxen image, ’gainst a fire,
     Bears no impression of the thing it was.

3. Of or pertaining to wax.
4. Having the pale smooth characteristics of wax, waxlike, waxy.
   • 1950, Mervyn Peake, chapter 28, in Gormenghast‎, Penguin, published 1969, page 185:

     It was hard to imagine that the broken thing had once been new; that those withered, waxen cheeks had been fresh and tinted. That her eyes had long ago glinted with laughter.

5. Easily molded, influenced, or bent; yielding, impressible.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XXI, page 35:

     The traveller hears me now and then,
     ⁠And sometimes harshly will he speak:
     ⁠‘This fellow would make weakness weak,
     And melt the waxen hearts of men.’

6. (rare) Easily effaced, as if written in wax.

Derived terms

• waxen chatterer
• waxen image
• waxen vein
• woad-waxen

Translations

Middle English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaksən/, /ˈwɛksən/

Etymology 1

From Old English weaxan, from Proto-West Germanic *wahsijan, from Proto-Germanic *wahsijaną.

Alternative forms

• waxenn, waxin, waxyn, waxe, wax, wexen, wexsyn, wexe, wexi, vexen

Verb

waxen

2. To grow (become larger):
   1. To grow up; to become fully grown.
      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎, published c. 1410, Matheu 13:31-32, page 6v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        An oþer parable iheſus puttide foꝛþ to hem. / ⁊ ſeide / þe kyngdom of heuenes is lijk to a coꝛn of ſeneuey · which a man took ⁊ ſewe in his feeld · / which is þe leeſt of alle ſeedis / but whanne it haþ woxen .· it is the mooſt of alle woꝛtis · ⁊ is maad a tre / ſo þe bꝛiddis of þe eir comen ⁊ dwellen in þe bowis þerof.

        Jesus put another parable forwards to them, saying: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in their field; / it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the largest of all plants; it becomes a tree, so the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

   2. To wax (of the moon); to rise (of the tide).
3. To increase in amount; to multiply
4. To increase in magnitude; to magnify
5. To appear; to arise.
6. To change; to turn (to or into something)
7. To become, to assume (a quality or state)

Usage notes

Already in Old English, this verb's conjugation varied; in Northumbria, the original class 6 conjugation was retained, while elsewhere, the verb went over to class 7; this variation persists in Middle English. Further variation results from levelling of forms during the Middle English period.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• faxwax
• wax
• waxynge

Descendants

• English: wax
• Scots: wax

References

• “waxen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From wax (“wax”) +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Alternative forms

• waxyn, waxe, wax, wexen

Verb

waxen

2. to wax (apply wax to; cover in wax)
3. (rare) to stop (a hole)

Conjugation

Descendants

• English: wax

References

• “waxen, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

From wax (“wax”) +‎ -en (“made of”).

Adjective

waxen

2. (hapax) waxen (made of wax)

Descendants

• English: waxen

References

• “waxen, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.