wasten

English

Etymology

From waste (“empty, barren, dejected, dismal”, adjective) +‎ -en.

Verb

wasten (third-person singular simple present wastens, present participle wastening, simple past and past participle wastened)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make or become waste (i.e. barren, dejected, dismal, feeble, or sickly) or wasted
   • 1865, John Stock (Vicar of Finchingfield, Essex.), An Exposition of the First Epistle General of St. John.:

     It is our wisdom to master this wastening incredulity: to overcome unbelief, by faith; and so the more easily this present world; making light of its permitted trials, and sitting loose to its possessions.

   • 1908, original 1613-1614, The Publications of the Yorkshire Parish Register Society, volume 33, page 203:

     […] Thomas s. of Chr: Clifton of Clifton & Will'm sonne of Robert Miller of Leedes lost in the snow the 8t of Februarie & not found till then & Clifto's child strangly wastened all saveing a very few bones thothr whole & fresh […]

   • 1920, Lady Augusta Gregory, A Book of Saints and Wonders:

     And there are seven wax tapers in the quire" he said "that have never been lighted by any man's hand, and that bum day and night at every hour of prayers and that have never wastened or lessened through these fourscore years."

   • 1962, Evidence, numbers 5-8, page 83:

     […] do you love me, Mabel?
     not a pennysworth, Joe
     troves I lost I never looked for: cracked
     fountain pens that stained my fingers wastened
     by irreconcilable degrees into the dust.

   • 1980, Nancy Lenz Harvey, Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, page 118:

     Wolsey wastened no moment in responding. In all diplomatic courtesy, he confirmed Henry's commitment to Francis and his willingness to meet with Charles.

   • 2015, Oliver Lockewell, Behind The Mirror: Fright Night Flash Fiction:

     Not a second was to be wastened when your parent sends you on an errand or some chore.

Synonyms

• (to make or become feeble): weaken, wane

Anagrams

• Tewans, wanest

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑs.tə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

wasten

1. inflection of wassen:
   1. plural past indicative
   2. (dated or formal) plural past subjunctive

Middle English

Alternative forms

• waaste, waasten, waaston, waastye, waist, wast, waste, wasti, wayst

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman waster (Parisien guaster), from Latin vāstō, with influence from Frankish *wōstijan; equivalent to wast (“desolate”) +‎ -en (infinitival suffix). Compare westen (“to devastate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːstən/, /ˈwastən/

Verb

wasten (third-person singular simple present wasteth, present participle wastende, wastynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle wasted)

1. To ruin or damage; to cause damage to:
   1. To devastate; to make a wasteland or ruin.
   2. To enfeeble; to make weak or sickly.
   3. To eat at; to cause to decay or shrink.
2. To destroy; to utterly consume or eliminate:
   1. To break up; to cause to dissolve or disintegrate.
   2. To cleanse; to make something evanesce or evacuate.
   3. (figuratively, religion) To eliminate sin.
   4. To kill or murder; to cause someone's death.
3. To utilise or expend (resources or supplies):
   1. To sap or use up; to totally expend.
   2. To waste resources; to expend wastefully.
   3. To expend time (usually in an wasteful way)
4. To weaken; to become less strong or powerful.
5. To dissolve or evanesce; to become disintegrated.
6. (figurative, rare) To violate or interrupt.

Conjugation

Conjugation of wasten (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) wasten, waste
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	waste	wasted
2nd-person singular	wastest	wastedest
3rd-person singular	wasteth	wasted
subjunctive singular	waste
imperative singular		—
plural1	wasten, waste	wasteden, wastede
imperative plural	wasteth, waste	—
participles	wastynge, wastende	wasted

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: waste
• Scots: waste

References

• “wā̆sten, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.