yearn

UK: /ˈjɜː^rn/ US: /jɝn/ ,(yûrn)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

yearn /yɜrn/   v. 

1. to have an earnest or strong desire;
   long: [~ + for + object]
   He yearned for her love.
   [~ + to + verb]
   They yearned to return to their village.

yearn•ing, n. 

[uncountable] a heart full of yearning.

[countable] a strong yearning for freedom.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

yearn  (yûrn), v.i. 

1. to have an earnest or strong desire;
   long:
   to yearn for a quiet vacation.
2. to feel tenderness;
   be moved or attracted:
   They yearned over their delicate child.

• bef. 900; Middle English yernen, Old English giernan derivative of georn eager; akin to Old Norse girna to desire, Greek chaírein to rejoice, Sanskrit háryati (he) desires

yearn′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. Yearn, long, hanker, pine all mean to feel a powerful desire for something.
  Yearn stresses the depth and passionateness of a desire:
  to yearn to get away and begin a new life; to yearn desperately for recognition.
  Long implies a wholehearted desire for something that is or seems unattainable:
  to long to relive one's childhood; to long for the warmth of summer.
  Hanker suggests a restless or incessant craving to fulfill some urge or desire:
  to hanker for a promotion; to hanker after fame and fortune.
  Pine adds the notion of physical or emotional suffering as a result of the real or apparent hopelessness of one's desire:
  to pine for one's native land; to pine for a lost love.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

yearn / jɜːn/ verb (intransitive)

1. usually followed by for or after or an infinitive: to have an intense desire or longing (for); pine (for)
2. to feel tenderness or affection

Etymology: Old English giernan; related to Old Saxon girnian, Old Norse girna, Gothic gairnjan, Old High German gerōn to long for, Sanskrit haryati he likes

ˈyearner noun