yearn

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

yearn
    v 1: desire strongly or persistently [syn: {hanker}, {long},
         {yearn}]
    2: have a desire for something or someone who is not present;
       "She ached for a cigarette"; "I am pining for my lover" [syn:
       {ache}, {yearn}, {yen}, {pine}, {languish}]
    3: have affection for; feel tenderness for

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Yearn \Yearn\, v. i. & t. [See {Yearnings}.]
   To curdle, as milk. [Scot.]
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Yearn \Yearn\, v. i. [OE. yernen, [yogh]ernen, [yogh]eornen, AS.
   geornian, gyrnan, fr. georn desirous, eager; akin to OS. gern
   desirous, girnean, gernean, to desire, D. gaarne gladly,
   willingly, G. gern, OHG. gerno, adv., gern, a., G. gier
   greed, OHG. gir[imac] greed, ger desirous, ger[=o]n to
   desire, G. begehren, Icel. girna to desire, gjarn eager,
   Goth. fa['i]huga['i]rns covetous, ga['i]rnjan to desire, and
   perhaps to Gr. chai`rein to rejoice, be glad, Skr. hary to
   desire, to like. [root]33.]
   To be filled with longing desire; to be harassed or rendered
   uneasy with longing, or feeling the want of a thing; to
   strain with emotions of affection or tenderness; to long; to
   be eager.
   [1913 Webster]

         Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his
         brother; and he sought where to weep.    --Gen. xliii.
                                                  30.
   [1913 Webster]

         Your mother's heart yearns towards you.  --Addison.
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Yearn \Yearn\ (y[~e]rn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Yearned}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Yearning}.] [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of
   OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman,
   fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,
   Goth. arms. The y- in English is perhaps due to the AS. ge
   (see {Y-}).]
   To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Obs.] "She laments, sir, for it,
   that it would yearn your heart to see it." --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

         It yearns me not if men my garments wear. --Shak.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Yearn \Yearn\, v. i.
   To be pained or distressed; to grieve; to mourn. [Obs.]
   "Falstaff he is dead, and we must yearn therefore." --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

18 Moby Thesaurus words for "yearn":
      ache, covet, crave, desire, dream, fancy, hanker, hunger, itch,
      long, lust, pant, pine, prefer, thirst, want, wish, yen