Weaxen

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. An archaic past participle meaning having grown or increased in size, strength, or extent over time
2. Old form of the past participle of the verb meaning to grow, describing something that has become larger
3. Archaic participle indicating that something has developed, expanded, or risen to a greater amount

Etymology: Weaxen is the past participle of the Old English verb "weaxan", meaning "to grow, increase, become larger". Its clearest modern relative is the adjective "waxen", but that word is a close cousin rather than a direct descendant. The original Old English verb "weaxan" gave us "wax" in the sense of growing, and it survives in the phrase "wax and wane" used of the moon, which means to grow and shrink. Its strong past participle, "geweaxen", was once a normal way to say "grown". The form "weaxen" itself belongs to the Middle English and early modern period, when the old strong verb endings were still in use. Over time "wax" lost its growing sense in everyday English, and "waxen" drifted toward meaning "made of wax" or "pale like wax", a sense that owes more to the noun "wax" than to the verb. The participle "weaxen" is therefore a relic: it preserves an older grammar in which growth itself was the core meaning.

Synonyms: pale, pallid, ashen, wan

Antonyms: ruddy, rosy