yean

From Middle English *yenen, ȝenen, eanen, from Old English *ġeēanian, ēanian (“to yean, bring forth young (usually lambs), bring forth as a ewe”) (for the prefixed form, compare Old English ġeēan, ġeēane (“yeaning”, adjective)), from Proto-West Germanic *gaaunōn, *aunōn (“to yean, lamb”), from *aunōną (“to yean, lamb”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷnós (“lamb”).

Cognate with Scots yean (“to yean”), Saterland Frisian bejänne (“to produce; show signs of calving”), West Frisian antsje, eandsje, inje (“to yean”), Dutch onen (“to yean”), Swedish öna (“to yean”, dialectal). Akin also to Latin agnus,^[1] Ancient Greek ἀμνός (amnós),^[2] Old Irish úan (“lamb”).^[1] See also ean.

• IPA^(key): /jiːn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːn
• Homophone: yeen

yean (third-person singular simple present yeans, present participle yeaning, simple past and past participle yeaned)

1. (transitive, archaic, of goats or sheep) To give birth to.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:yean.

• Enya, ayen