yearning

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun prolonged unfulfilled desire or need
  2. verb desire strongly or persistently
  3. verb have a desire for something or someone who is not present

Etymology

From Middle English yerning, from Old English ġierning, ġierninge. Equivalent to the gerund (yearn + -ing). yearn comes from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan, from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną, from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) + *-janą, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”). By surface analysis, yearn + -ing.

In classic literature

Synonyms

longing, hungriness

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