Standard Lemma guide

waning

adj · noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈweɪ.nɪŋ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪnɪŋ
  • CMU ARPABET: W EY1 N IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Becoming weaker or smaller.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • my patience is waning

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of the lunar phase: as it shrinks when viewed from the Earth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • the waning moon

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The fact or act of becoming less or less intense or present; fading.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • the waning of her energy

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The fact or act of becoming smaller.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 17th century, Joseph Hall, Epistle to Mr. R. B. This earthly moon, the Church, hath her fulls and wanings, and sometimes her eclipses.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

present participle and gerund of wane

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

(of the Moon) pertaining to the period during which the visible surface of the moon decreases

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • after full moon comes the waning moon

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: waxing

7

noun

Meaning 7

a gradual decrease in magnitude or extent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the waning of his enthusiasm was obvious
  • the waxing and waning of the moon

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: waxing

Broader terms: decrease, lessening, drop-off

History

Etymology

From Middle English waninge, alteration of earlier waniand, waniende, from Old English waniende, from Proto-Germanic *wanōndz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wanōną (“to wane”), equivalent to wane + -ing.

From Middle English waning, waninge, wonunge, from Old English wanung (“waning; diminution”), from Proto-Germanic *wanungō, equivalent to wane + -ing.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: mizející — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Czech: vytrácející se — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Esperanto: malkreskanta — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Finnish: hupeneva — becoming weaker or smaller
  • French: décroissant — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Occitan: descreissent — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Occitan: amermant — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Occitan: amenent — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Polish: malejący — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Polish: słabnący — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Spanish: decreciente — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Spanish: menguar — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Catalan: minvant — of the lunar phase
  • Czech: ubývající — of the lunar phase
  • Esperanto: malkreska — of the lunar phase
  • French: décroissant — of the lunar phase
  • German: abnehmen — of the lunar phase
  • Latin: decrescens — of the lunar phase
  • Latin: senescens — of the lunar phase
  • Norman: tchiyant — of the lunar phase
  • Occitan: descreissent — of the lunar phase
  • Polish: blednący — of the lunar phase
  • Portuguese: minguante — of the lunar phase
  • Spanish: menguante — of the lunar phase
  • Thai: แรม (rɛɛm) — of the lunar phase
  • French: diminution — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Occitan: apichoniment — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Occitan: aflaquiment — becoming weaker or smaller
  • Spanish: mengua — becoming weaker or smaller
  • French: décroissance — The fact or act of becoming smaller
  • Occitan: descreissença — The fact or act of becoming smaller
  • Occitan: apichoniment — The fact or act of becoming smaller
  • Spanish: decrecimiento — The fact or act of becoming smaller