What does “wean” mean in English?

To wean a baby or a baby animal means to slowly stop it from drinking milk and start giving it solid food instead. In this clip, a cat expert explains that a mother cat usually weans her kittens — stops nursing them — at around two or three months old, once they can eat on their own. The word works for humans too: parents wean a baby off breast milk or a bottle.

English also uses “wean” for habits, not just milk. You can “wean yourself off” coffee, sugar, or your phone — slowly using less of something until you don’t need it anymore. The word comes from Old English wenian, meaning “to accustom” or “get used to,” which is really the whole idea: getting used to something new, one small step at a time.