English Explanatory Dictionary

wax and wane

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To progress cyclically through various phases, such as growth and senescence.
  2. To alternate; to increase and diminish in turn.

Word forms

wax and wane waxes and wanes waxing and waning waxed and waned

Etymology

Literally, “grow and shrink”. Compare wax with the German cognate wachsen (“to grow”). Originally (ca. 14th century) used referring to the phases of the Moon. Folk etymology has occasionally mistakenly presumed the phrase to be a reference to candles, under the notion that they are produced by applying wax to a wick and then begin to wane once they are lit.

Synonyms

ebb and flow
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