yawn
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yawn¹
- /jɔːn/ Northern England, UK, Wales
- /joːn/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /jɔn/ US
- /jɑn/ US, cot caught merger
- /jɔn/ Scotland
Sounds like yon (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːn
Where it comes from
Partly from Middle English yanen, yonen, yenen (“to yawn”), from Old English ġeonian, ġinian (“to yawn, gape”), from Proto-West Germanic *ginōn, from Proto-Germanic *ginōną (“to yawn”); and partly from Middle English gonen (“to gape, yawn”), from Old English gānian (“to yawn, gape”), from Proto-West Germanic *gainōn, from Proto-Germanic *gainōną (“to yawn, gape”); both from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰi-, *ǵʰeyh₁- (“to yawn, gape”).
Cognate with North Frisian jåne (“to yawn”), Saterland Frisian jaanje, joanje (“to yawn”), Middle Dutch genen, ghenen (“to yawn”), German Low German jahnen (“to yawn”), German gähnen (“to yawn, gape”), dialectal Swedish gana (“to gape, gawk”), dialectal Norwegian gina (“to gape”).
Compare also Old Church Slavonic зѣѭ (zějǫ) (Russian зи́нуть (zínutʹ), зия́ть (zijátʹ)), Greek χαίνω (khaínō)), Latin hiō, Tocharian A śew, Tocharian B kāy-, Lithuanian žioti, Sanskrit जेह् (jeh)
verb yawns · yawning · yawned
- To open the mouth widely and take a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired or bored, and sometimes accompanied by pandiculation. I could see my students yawning, so I knew the lesson was boring them.
- To say while yawning. “I haven’t the least idea what I want to do,” he yawned.
- To present a wide opening; gape. The canyon yawns as it has done for millions of years, and we stand looking, dumbstruck.
- To open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or bewilderment. […] O heavy hour! Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse Of sun and moon, and that the affrighted globe Should yawn at alteration.
- To be eager; to desire to swallow anything; to express desire by yawning. to yawn for fat livings
noun yawns
- The action of yawning; opening the mouth widely and taking a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired or bored. At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, she gave a great yawn and said, “How pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way! […]”
- A particularly boring event. The slideshow we sat through was such a yawn. I was glad when it finished.
Yawn²
Where it comes from
Americanized spelling of the German surname Jahn
proper noun Yawns
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: gape, yaw, jawn, oscitate, sigh, say aah, galp, snore, gasp, mouth, loll, chaun, plapper, snort, yawp, whoosh
Translations
Every language
verb open the mouth and take a deep breath
| Español | bostezar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 하품하다 hapumhada |
| 日本語 | 欠伸する akubi suru |
| 中文 | 打哈欠 dǎ hāqian, 打呵欠 dǎ hēqiàn, 打阿老 dǎ ālǎo |
| हिन्दी | जंभना jambhnā, जँभाई लेना jambhāī lenā, अंगड़ाई लेना aṅgṛāī lenā |
| Kiswahili | -piga miayo, -enda miayo |
| Português | bocejar |
| Français | bâiller |
| Deutsch | gähnen |
| Italiano | sbadigliare |
| Ελληνικά | χασμουριέμαι chasmouriémai |
| Română | căsca |
| Русский | зева́ть zevátʹ, зевну́ть zevnútʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | ngáp |
| العربية | تَثَاءَبَ taṯāʔaba |
| עברית | פִּהֵק pihek |
verb to present a wide opening
| Español | abrirse |
|---|---|
| Français | béer |
| Română | deschide, a căsca |
| Русский | зия́ть zijátʹ |
noun the action of yawning
| Español | bostezo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 하품 hapum |
| 日本語 | 欠伸 akubi |
| 中文 | 哈欠 hāqian, 呵欠 hēqiàn |
| हिन्दी | जम्हाई jamhāī |
| Kiswahili | mwayo |
| Português | bocejo |
| Français | bâillement |
| Deutsch | Gähnen |
| Italiano | sbadiglio |
| Ελληνικά | χασμουρητό chasmouritó |
| Русский | зева́ние zevánije, зево́та zevóta, зево́к zevók |
| Tiếng Việt | ngáp |
| العربية | تَثَاؤُب taṯāʔub |
| עברית | פִּהוּק pihuk |
Talk about this word "yawn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/yawn. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. yawn. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/yawn "yawn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/yawn.Cite this
@misc{yawn_2026,
title = {yawn},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/yawn},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
