Dwining
/ˈdwaɪnɪŋ/noun
Archaic or dialectal English for gradually wasting away, weakening, or fading.
Did you know?Dwining belongs to the same historical word family that produced “dwindle,” giving the modern word its eerie sense of gradual, almost imperceptible loss.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*dwinaną
“To fade, waste away, or diminish; the reconstructed ancestor of later Germanic forms.”
Old English
Old English
dwinan
“To waste away, languish, or become weaker.”
Middle English
Middle English
dwinen
“To diminish, fade, or pine away.”
15th–16th Century
English
dwine
“To languish, decay, or gradually lose strength.”
Modern dialectal English
English
dwining
“Wasting away, fading, or becoming feeble; the present participle of “dwine.””