Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

wax and wane en · VERB

Etymology

Literally, “grow and shrink”. Compare wax with the German cognate wachsen (“to grow”). Originally (c. 14th century) used referring to the phases of the Moon. Folk etymology has occasionally mistakenly presumed the phrase to be a reference to candles, under the notion that they are produced by applying wax to a wick and then begin to wane once they are lit.

Meanings

  1. To progress cyclically through various phases, such as growth and senescence.
  2. To alternate; to increase and diminish in turn.
    • The manifestation of such philosophy seemed to wax and wane, being the most common one time, but virtually without followers at another, apparently disappearing.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
waxing and waning Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
waxes and wanes Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
waxed and waned Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
waxed and waned Tense=Past lexicographic

Synonyms

ebb and flow

Translations (5)

pl falować (to alternate; to increase and diminish in turn) · pl mieć wzloty i upadki (to progress cyclically through various phases) · pl wahać się (to alternate; to increase and diminish in turn) · pl wzrosnąć i zaniknąć (to progress cyclically through various phases) · pl wzrastać i zanikać (to progress cyclically through various phases)