different between wizen vs shrivel

English

Alternative forms

• wizzen

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English wisenen, from Old English wisnian, weosnian, from Proto-Germanic *wisn?jan, from *wesan? (“to consume”). Cognate with Icelandic visna, Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (frawisan, “to squander through feasting”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w?z?n/
• Rhymes: -?z?n

Adjective

wizen (comparative more wizen, superlative most wizen)

1. Wizened; withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.
   • 1864, - Henry Dunbar by Mary Elizabeth Braddon [1]

     His face was wizen and wrinkled, his faded blue eyes dim and weak-looking. He was feeble, and his hands were tremulous with a perpetual nervous motion.

   • 1890, - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde [2]

     Yes, there would be a day when his face would be wrinkled and wizen, his eyes dim and colourless, the grace of his figure broken and deformed. The scarlet would pass away from his lips and the gold steal from his hair.

Translations

Verb

wizen (third-person singular simple present wizens, present participle wizening, simple past and past participle wizened)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To wither; to become, or make, lean and wrinkled by shrinkage, as from age or illness.

Translations

Anagrams

• winze

English

Etymology

First recorded as shriveled (“shrivelled”), probably of North Germanic origin related to dialectal Swedish skryvla (“to wrinkle, shrivel”); perhaps ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *skrinkwan? (“to shrivel, shrink”) or *skrimpan? (“to shrink”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: shr?'v?l, IPA^(key): /????v?l/
• Rhymes: -?v?l

Verb

shrivel (third-person singular simple present shrivels, present participle (UK) shrivelling or (US) shriveling, simple past and past participle (UK) shrivelled or (US) shriveled)

1. (intransitive) To collapse inward; to crumble.

   The plant shrivelled from lack of water.

2. (intransitive) To become wrinkled.

   His fingers were shriveled from being in the bath for too long.

3. (transitive) To draw into wrinkles.

   The hot sun shrivelled the leaves.

Derived terms

• shrivel up

Translations

References