Wean
A child, particularly a young one. Always used as a noun ('the wean is asleep'); plural 'weans' or 'weans'. Distinct from English 'child' and softer than 'kid'. The standard everyday word in Ulster Scots for any pre-adolescent.
Etymology
A reduced form of 'wee' + 'ane' - literally 'a wee one'. The merger of two short words into a single noun is documented from at least 1624 in Older Scots ('wyne'). The modern 'wean' spelling is documented from 1725, with attestations through to 2000 across Scots and Ulster Scots. The constituent parts have not fully coalesced into a monophthong in some Perthshire and Angus pronunciations, where it is still heard close to 'wee-an'.
In a sentence
When skirlin weanies see the light, Thou maks the gossips clatter bright. - Robert Burns, 1785
A glum an' fractious wean. - Robert Louis Stevenson, 1887
Historical notes
Wean is one of the most useful Ulster Scots family words and one of the most class-portable. Burns reached for it in 1785 ('When skirlin weanies see the light'); Stevenson used 'a glum an' fractious wean' in 1887; modern Ulster speakers use it without thinking. The compound forms 'gran(d)wean' (grandchild), 'laddie-wean' (boy-child), and 'lassie-wean' (girl-child) are all documented in DSL. The diminutive 'weanie' is heard for a very small child.
Alternate spellings
wane · weean