Word.ws English Dictionary

yearn

UK/jɜːn//jɝn/

yearn verb: to have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.

Verb (1)

yearn (third-person singular simple present yearns, present participle yearning, simple past and past participle yearned or (rare) yearnt)

  1. (also, figuratively, intransitive) To have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.
    • All I yearn for is a simple life.
    • I muſt do that my heart-ſtrings yern to do: but my word's paſt.c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II...
    Synonyms:
    pant, salivate, burn
    1. (also, figuratively, intransitive, specifically) To long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia.
      • If I don’t go now, thought Charlotte, I shall have lost a chance which I shall eternally regret and yearn after.1971, Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published February 1972, →ISBN, page 420
      • Having shaken the dust of the ugly new South Africa from his feet, is he yearning for the South Africa of the old days, when Eden was still possible?2002, J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee, chapter 17, in Youth: Scenes from Provincial Life II, 1st American edition, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 137
  2. (intransitive) Of music, words, etc.: to express strong desire or longing.
    • The music, yearning like a God in pain, / She scarcely heard: […]1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza VII, page 86
  3. (dated, intransitive) To have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc., toward someone.
    • And Joſeph made haſte: for his bowels did yerne upon his brother: and he ſought where to weepe, and hee entred into his chamber, & wept there.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 43:30, column 1
    • I have left your mother in the next room. Her heart yearns towards you.1711 July 31 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, July 21, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 123; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New...
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To be distressed or pained; to grieve; to mourn.
    • My father’s and my uncle Toby’s hearts yearn’d with ſympathy for the poor fellow’s diſtreſs,—[…]1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XVII, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume II, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760...
  5. (transitive) Often followed by out: to perform (music) which conveys or say (words) which express strong desire or longing.
  6. (archaic, poetic, transitive) To have a strong desire or longing (for something or to do something).
    Synonyms:
    earn
  7. (obsolete, transitive) To cause (someone) to have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc.; also, to grieve or pain (someone).
    • Well, ſhe laments Sir for it, that it would yern your heart to see it: […]c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • It yernes me not, if men my Garments weare; / Nor care I who doth feed vpon my coſt: / Such outward things dwell not in my deſires. / But if it be a ſinne to couet Honor, / I am the moſt offending Soule aliue.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    Synonyms:
    earn

Noun

yearn (plural yearns)

  1. A strong desire or longing; a yearning, a yen.
    • Gibbs now said he wasn't going to pull any punches with Gary when he knew how jealous a man could get, so he also wanted to tell him that Phil Hansen was reputed to have a yearn for attractive ladies.1979, Norman Mailer, The Executioner's Song
    • "After he had made a record date with us in 1935, I always had a yearn for Ben," he said years later.2010, Frank Buchmann-Moller, Someone to Watch Over Me: The Life and Music of Ben Webster, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 57

Verb (2)

yearn (third-person singular simple present yearns, present participle yearning, simple past and past participle yearned)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, intransitive) Of milk: to curdle, especially in the cheesemaking process.
    Synonyms:
    earn, run
  2. (Northern England, Scotland, intransitive) Of cheese: to be made from curdled milk.
  3. (Northern England, Scotland, transitive) To curdle (milk), especially in the cheesemaking process.
  4. (Northern England, Scotland, transitive) To make (cheese) from curdled milk.
    • Also his Honour the Duke will accept ane of our Dunlop cheeses, and it sall be my faut if a better was ever yearned in Lowden.1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume IV, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.]...

yearn meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam

yearn in Hindi

to yearn, crave, be restless
तड़पना taṛapnā

yearn in Tamil

ஏங்கு

yearn in Urdu

to yearn, crave, be restless
تڑپنا taṛapnā

yearn in Malayalam

ആശിക്കുക, കൊതിക്കുക, അഭിലഷിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
yearn in Kannada
ಬಯಸು, ಅಪೇಕ್ಷಿಸು, ಹಂಬಲಿಸು, ಹಾತೊರೆ
yearn in Punjabi
ਸਿੱਕਣਾ sikkaṇā
yearn in Arabic
تَاقَ tāqa, اِشْتَاقَ ištāqa

Examples of yearn in a sentence

  • You are now before my eyes, my eyes that are ready to flow with tenderness, but cannot give relief to my gushing heart, that dictates what I am now saying, and yearns to tell you all its achings.1711 August 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, August 13, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 142...
  • What his soul yearned after was control of his father's newly purchased sailing-ship.1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, chapter X, in “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897...
  • And Jim supported his twitching body by holding on to the sink, the while he yearned toward the yellowish concoction that stood for life.1911 January, Jack London, “Just Meat”, in When God Laughs and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 125:
  • But all that night his body yearned for Alec's, despite him.1913–1960 (writing and revisions), E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter 40, in Maurice, London: Penguin Books, published 1971 (1987...

All 35 example sentences with yearn

Synonyms of yearn

13 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of yearn

Forms of yearn

Verb
third-person singular presentyearns
present participleyearning
past participleyearned
pastyearned
past participle (rare)yearnt
past (rare)yearnt
second-person singular present (archaic)yearnest
second-person singular past (archaic)yearnedst
third-person singular present (archaic)yearneth
Noun
pluralyearns

Past tense of yearn: yearned

Origin of yearn

The verb is derived from Middle English yernen, yern (“to express or feel desire; to desire, long or wish for; to lust after; to ask or demand for”) [and other forms], from Old English ġeornan (“to desire, yearn; to beg”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan (“to be eager for, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną (“to desire, want”), from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives). The noun is derived from the verb.

Probably either: * a variant of earn (“to curdle, as milk”) (though this word is attested later), from Middle English erne, ernen (“to coagulate, congeal”) (chiefly South Midlands) [and other forms], a metathetic variant of rennen (“to run; to coagulate, congeal”), from Old English rinnan (“to run”) (with the variants iernan, irnan) and Old Norse rinna (“to move quickly, run; of liquid: to flow, run; to melt”), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to move, stir; to rise, spring”); or * a back-formation from yearning (“(Scotland, archaic) rennet; calf (or other animal’s) stomach used to make rennet”).

Words formed from yearn

Words that rhyme with yearn

28 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about yearn

What does yearn mean?
Yearn means to have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.
What is yearn in Hindi?
Yearn in Hindi is तड़पना (taṛapnā). See Yearn meaning in Hindi.
How do you use yearn in a sentence?
You are now before my eyes, my eyes that are ready to flow with tenderness, but cannot give relief to my gushing heart, that dictates what I am now saying, and yearns to tell you all its achings.
What part of speech is yearn?
Yearn can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce yearn?
Yearn is pronounced /jɜːn/ (UK).
What is the past tense of yearn?
The past tense of yearn is yearned.

Words near yearn in the dictionary

  1. yearlings
  2. yearlong
  3. yearly
  4. yearman
  5. yearmen
  6. yearn
  7. yearne
  8. yearned
  9. yearnedst
  10. yearner
  11. yearners

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: yearn (page history and authors); तड़पना (Hindi) (page history and authors); yearn (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); تڑپنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); yearn (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); yearn (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਸਿੱਕਣਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-yearn.ogg.

Cite this entry: “yearn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/yearn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.