YEARN, YERN, verb intransitive [G. The sense is to strain, or stretch forward. We have earnest from the same root.] 1. To be strained; to be pained or distressed; to suffer. Falstaff, he is dead, and we must yearn therefore. 2. Usually, to long; to feel an earnest desire; that is literally, to have a desire or inclination stretching towards the object or end. 1 Kings 3:26. Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon his brother. Genesis 43:30. Your mothers heart yearns toward you. --Anticlus, unable to control, spoke loud the language of his yearning soul. YEARN, YERN, verb transitive To pain; to grieve; to vex. She laments for it, that it would yearn your heart to see it. It yearns me not if men my garments wear.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI