Emily Dickinson Lexicon

YEARN, or YERN, v.i. [Sax. geornian, giernan, gyrnan, earnian, to desire; to yearn; Sw. gerna, willingly; Dan. gierne, G. gern, D. gaarne. 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. – Shak.
2. Usually, to long; to feel an earnest desire; that is literally, to have a desire or inclination stretching toward the object or end. – 1 Kings iii. Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon his brother. – Gen. xliii. Your mother's heart yearns toward you. – Addison. Anticlus, unable to control, / Spoke loud the language of his yearning soul. – Pope.