Geweaxen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Old English past participle of the verb meaning to grow, describing something that has developed or increased in size over time
2. An archaic form of the past participle of wax, used in Old English to mean having grown or matured to a full state
3. Past participle of an Old English verb for growing, indicating that a living thing has increased in size or matured

Etymology: "Geweaxen" is the past participle of Old English "weaxan", "to grow", so it is the form of that verb used with a helper such as "have" or "be", as in "has grown". The verb is an ancient Germanic word whose relatives include German "wachsen" and Dutch "wassen", and it was already in use in the earliest surviving English texts. The "ge-" at the front is a prefix that Old English attached to many past participles, and by the time it appears here it is a grammatical marker rather than a separate word with its own meaning. The same prefix turns up in forms such as "gesewen" and "gebunden", and it gradually disappeared from English over the centuries, leaving "grown" as the modern participle. Because "geweaxen" is an older, fuller form, it is mainly found in Old English poetry and prose rather than in later English. Its meaning, "grown to maturity," is the sense the verb has carried since the beginning, applied to people, plants and things alike.

Synonyms: grown