moan

See also: möän and Moan

English

Etymology

From Middle English mone, mane, mān, (also as mene), from Old English *mān, *mǣn (“complaint; lamentation”), from Proto-West Germanic *mainu, from Proto-Germanic *mainō (“opinion; mind”).

Cognate with Old Frisian mēne (“opinion”), Old High German meina (“opinion”). Old English *mān, *mǣn is inferred from Old English mǣnan (“to complain over; grieve; mourn”). More at mean.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mōn, IPA^(key): /məʊn/
• (US) enPR: mōn, IPA^(key): /moʊn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊn
• Homophone: mown

Noun

moan (plural moans)

1. a low, mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure

   let out a deep moan

   We heard the distant moan of a stag in pain.

Translations

a low cry of pain

Azerbaijani: inilti, zarıltı Bulgarian: стон (bg) m (ston), стенание n (stenanie) Catalan: gemec (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 呻吟 (zh) (shēnyín), 哀鸣 (zh) (aīmíng) Czech: nářek m Dutch: kreun (nl) Esperanto: ĝemo Finnish: voihkinta, voihkina, voihke French: gémissement (fr) m Galician: laio m, laído m German: Stöhnen (de) n, Ächzen (de) n Hindi: कराह (hi) m (karāh) Hungarian: nyögés (hu) Irish: ong m (literary) Italian: gemito (it) m Japanese: 呻き (ja) (うめき, umeki), 呻き声 (うめきごえ, umekigoe) Kabuverdianu: jemidu Kazakh: ыңыл (yñyl) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: axîn (ku) f, oxîn (ku) f, ofîn (ku) f Latgalian: voikuošona, gaudys Latvian: vaids Ottoman Turkish: زار (zar) Persian: ناله (fa) (nâle) Polish: jęk (pl) m Portuguese: gemido (pt) m, lamento (pt) m Romanian: geamăt (ro), gemete n pl Russian: стон (ru) m (ston) Scottish Gaelic: caoidh f Spanish: gemido (es) m, quejido (es) m Swedish: stönande (sv) n, stön (sv) n Ukrainian: сто́гін m (stóhin) Urdu: کَراہ m (karāh)

Verb

moan (third-person singular simple present moans, present participle moaning, simple past and past participle moaned)

1. (transitive, now rare) To complain about; to bemoan, to bewail; to mourn. [from 13th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Much did the Craven seeme to mone his case […].

   • 1708, Matthew Prior, the Turtle and the Sparrow

     Ye floods, ye woods, ye echoes, moan / My dear Columbo, dead and gone.

2. (intransitive, now chiefly poetic) To grieve. [from 14th c.]

   Synonyms: lament; see also Thesaurus:be sad

3. (intransitive) To make a moan or similar sound. [from 18th c.]

   She moaned with pleasure and squirmed with delight from receiving oral sex.

   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 169:

     They shared a common dread that he would begin moaning.

4. (transitive) To say in a moan, or with a moaning voice. [from 19th c.]

   ‘Please don't leave me,’ he moaned.

5. (intransitive, colloquial) To complain; to grumble. [from 20th c.]

   Synonyms: whine; see also Thesaurus:complain

6. (transitive, obsolete) To distress (someone); to sadden. [15th–17th c.]

   Synonyms: deject; see also Thesaurus:sadden

   • 1626 February 1 (licensing date), John Fletcher [et al.], “The Faire Maide of the Inne”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene i:

     which infinitely moans me

Conjugation

infinitive	(to) moan
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	moan	moaned
2nd-person singular	moan, moanest†	moaned, moanedst†
3rd-person singular	moans, moaneth†	moaned
plural	moan
subjunctive	moan	moaned
imperative	moan	—
participles	moaning	moaned

Conjugation of moan

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• bitch and moan
• make moan
• moaner
• moaning dove
• moaning Minnie
• moany
• piss and moan

 

Related terms

• bemoan

Translations

to complain

Bulgarian: оплаквам се (oplakvam se) Catalan: gemegar (ca), llamentar-se, plànyer-se (ca) Dutch: klagen (nl) Finnish: valittaa (fi) French: se plaindre (fr), geindre (fr) German: klagen (de), beklagen (de) Alemannic German: chlaage Irish: éagaoin Italian: lamentarsi (it) Maori: hāngurunguru, kōnanunanu, kūnanunanu Polish: narzekać (pl) Portuguese: queixar-se (pt), reclamar (pt) Spanish: quejar (es)

to grieve (poetic)

Finnish: valittaa (fi) German: wehklagen (de), beklagen (de)

to make a moan or similar sound

Arabic: تَأَوَّهَ (ar) (taʔawwaha) Asturian: ximir (ast) Azerbaijani: inildəmək (az), zarıldamaq, inləmək (az) Belarusian: е́нчыць (jénčycʹ) Bulgarian: стена (bg) (stena) Catalan: gemegar (ca) Cherokee: ᎤᎵᏰᏗᎭ (uliyediha) Chinese: Mandarin: 呻吟 (zh) (shēnyín) Czech: sténat Dutch: kreunen (nl) Esperanto: ĝemi (eo) Estonian: oigama Finnish: voihkia (fi), ähkiä (fi) French: gémir (fr), mugir (fr) German: stöhnen (de), ächzen (de) Alemannic German: bërsche Hungarian: nyög (hu) Indonesian: mendesah (id) Italian: gemere (it) Japanese: 呻く (ja) (うめく, umeku) Latgalian: voikuot Latvian: vaidēt Macedonian: стенка (stenka) Maori: wheo, wheowheo, aurere, ngū Norwegian: Bokmål: stønne Nynorsk: stønna, stønne Oromo: aaduu (om) Persian: نالیدن (fa) (nâlidan) Polish: jęczeć (pl) Portuguese: gemer (pt) Romanian: geme (ro) Russian: стона́ть (ru) impf (stonátʹ) Serbo-Croatian: stenjati (sh) Spanish: gemir (es) Swedish: stöna (sv) Turkish: ahlamak (tr), inlemek (tr) Ukrainian: стогна́ти (stohnáty) Venetan: zèmere Vietnamese: rên rỉ (vi)

to say with a moaning voice

Finnish: mankua (fi) German: jammern (de), stöhnen (de), schluchzen (de) (to sob, to snivel)

to grumble (colloquial)

Finnish: nurista (fi) German: maulen (de), murren (de), motzen (de)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: nalîn (ku), axîn (ku), oxîn (ku), ofîn (ku) Norman: (please verify) geindre (Jersey)

See also

• murmur
• protest
• lament

Further reading

• “moan”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “moan”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Noam, Mona, mona, Mano, Oman, NOMA, Amon, noma, Onam, maon, MONA, mano

Breton

Alternative forms

• moen

Etymology

From Middle Breton moen, from Old Breton moin, from Proto-Brythonic *muɨn (“beautiful”). Compare Welsh mwyn (“mild, gentle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmwãːn/

Adjective

moan

1. thin, slender

   Synonym: tanav

   Antonym: tev

Mutation

Mutation of moan

	unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
simple form	moan	voan	never occurs	never occurs
comparative	moanoc'h	voanoc'h	never occurs	-	superlative	moanañ	voanañ	unchanged	unchanged! exclamative	moanat	voanat	unchanged	unchanged

Finnish

Noun

moan

1. genitive singular of moa

Anagrams

• Oman, oman

Yola

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔːn/
• Homophone: mawen

Etymology 1

From Middle English mone, from Old English mān, from Proto-West Germanic *mainu.

Noun

moan

1. moan
   • 1927, “LAMENT OF A WIDOW”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 130, line 1:

     Ochone! to fo shul Ich maak mee moan,

     Ochone, to whom shall I make my moan,

Etymology 2

Noun

moan

1. Alternative form of mawen
   • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, line 1:

     A moan vrim a Bearlough an anoor vrim a Baak,

     A woman from the Bearlough and another from the Beak,

   • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, line 7:

     Shu ztaared an shu ztudied hi near parshagh moan,

     She stared and she studied by the other passive woman,

   • 1927, “YOLA ZONG O BARONY VORTH”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 132, line 1:

     Billeen Scalaane an hys yola moan,

     Billy Scallan and his old woman,

References

• Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland