v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Waned p. pr. & vb. n. Waning. ] [ OE. wanien, AS. wanian, wonian, from wan, won, deficient, wanting; akin to D. wan-, G. wahnsinn, insanity, OHG. wan, wana-, lacking, wan&unr_;n to lessen, Icel. vanr lacking, Goth. vans; cf. Gr. &unr_; bereaved, Skr. &unr_;na wanting, inferior. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;. Cf. Want lack, and Wanton. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To be diminished; to decrease; -- contrasted with wax, and especially applied to the illuminated part of the moon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like the moon, aye wax ye and wane.
Waning moons their settled periods keep. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To decline; to fail; to sink. [ 1913 Webster ]

You saw but sorrow in its waning form. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Land and trade ever will wax and wane together. Sir J. Child. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to decrease. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The decrease of the illuminated part of the moon to the eye of a spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Decline; failure; diminution; decrease; declension. [ 1913 Webster ]

An age in which the church is in its wane. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though the year be on the wane. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An inequality in a board. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Forestry) The natural curvature of a log or of the edge of a board sawed from a log. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A sharp or uneven edge on a board that is cut from a log not perfectly squared, or that is made in the process of squaring. See Wany, a. [ 1913 Webster ]