Wizens

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To become dry, shrunken, and wrinkled often due to aging or loss of moisture ; to cause or appear aged and withered physically or metaphorically ; describing a state of diminished freshness or vitality through natural or artificial means
2. The process of drying and shrinking, especially with skin or plant matter ; to exhibit signs of age by becoming wrinkled or shrunken ; to transition into a less healthy, robust, or youthful condition
3. To undergo physical shrinkage and wrinkling often linked to dehydration or age ; to show characteristics of being aged or worn out in appearance ; referring to the condition of losing firmness, plumpness, or vigor over time

Etymology: "Wizens" is the third-person singular form of "wizen," meaning a body or thing dries up and shrivels with age. The verb descends from Old English "wisnian" and "weosnian," which carried the same sense of withering and drying out, and it has survived in English as a largely literary word. Its deeper roots are surprising. The Old English verb grew from a Proto-Germanic root "*wesaną," meaning "to consume," so the original idea was of something being used up or wasted away. Icelandic "visna," a cognate, still means to wither or wilt, and the Gothic "frawisan," meaning to squander through feasting, shows the same root reaching toward waste and loss.

Synonyms: shrivels, withers, wilts

Antonyms: blooms, flourishes, thrives