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单词 sow
释义

sown.1

Brit. /saʊ/, U.S. /saʊ/
Forms: α. Old English sugu, suga, Middle English suȝe-, Middle English zoȝe, Middle English sogh(e, sowhe, Middle English, 1600s, 1800s sough. β. Middle English suwa, Middle English suwe, Middle English souwe, Middle English–1500s soowe, Middle English–1600s sowe, Middle English– sow, 1500s, 1800s Scottish sou. γ. northern dialectMiddle English–1600s, 1800s sew. δ. 1500s, 1800s dialect soo.
Etymology: Old English sugu , = West Frisian sûch , North Frisian sögg , su , Middle Dutch soge , seuge (Dutch zeug ) and soch , such (Dutch zog ), Middle Low German soge , suge (Low German soge ), related to Old High German and Middle High German sû (German sau ) and Old Norse sý-r (accusative sú ; Middle Swedish, Swedish, and Danish so ), also Latin sūs , Greek ὗς , Avestan hu . The stem su- , of doubtful origin, also appears in swine n.
1.
a. The female of swine; an adult or full-grown female pig, esp. a domestic one used for breeding.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > [noun] > group Suiformes (hippos and pigs) > family Suidae (swine) > female or sow
sowc725
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [noun] > female > sow
sowc725
sow-pig1548
maggot1608
α.
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S 172 Scroffa, sugu.
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care liv. 419 Sio sugu hi wille sylian on hire sole æfterðæmðe hio aðwægen bið.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 61 Hy byeþ anlicned to þe zoȝe huanne hi heþ yuarȝed.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 13358 I logge..As a sowhe, in donge and clay.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xii. 117 And it were for a sogh Ther is drynk enogh.
β. c1150 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 543 Scroffa, suwa.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 152 Þe suȝe of ȝiuernesse haueð gris. þus þet beoð inempned.c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 62 A-mong alle bestes..A-corsed þou beo, luþere souwe.c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 731 Sengler, troie, et suel, Bor, sowe, and gilte.c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) iv. pr. iii. 122 He is wiþholden in þe foule delices of þe foule soowe.14.. Sir Beues (C.) 2509 Hys heere was as þe brystels of a sowe.a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 43 In the pathe he saw a gret blacke swyne and a sowe.?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxvii Lette them be bores and sowes all, and no hogges.1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 31v Good faring sow, holdes profit with kow.a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 80 Powre in Sowes blood, that hath eaten Her nine Farrow. View more context for this quotation1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 117 The large sided sow is best.1764 Museum Rusticum 1 476 When I have a parcel of young pigs in winter, I find these sows will fat them better.1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus ii. 29 The lean sows and boars collect about her.1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess i. 21 All the swine were sows.1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust I. xxi. 222 A tough old sow and the mother thereon, Then follow the witches, every one.γ. c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 187 On a tyme þer was a man þat stale his neghbur sew.1557 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 101 Hoggs, v sewes and one boore. 1684 [see sense 2]. 1807 R. Anderson et al. Ballads in Cumberland Dial. (c1850) 151 Twee braid-backt tips, and a bonny sew.1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield Sew, Soo, or Seoo, a sow.δ. 1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 35 Geue him the milke of a Soo. 1883 [see γ. ].
†b. my sow's pigged, a former card game. Obsolete.Some other dialect uses are given in the Eng. Dial. Dict.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > other card games > [noun] > others
laugh and lie down1522
mack1548
decoyc1555
pinionc1557
to beat the knave out of doors1570
imperial1577
prima vista1587
loadum1591
flush1598
prime1598
thirty-perforce1599
gresco1605
hole1621
my sow's pigged1621
slam1621
fox-mine-host1622
whipperginnie1622
crimpa1637
hundred1636
pinache1641
sequence1653
lady's hole1658
quebas1668
art of memory1674
costly colours1674
penneech1674
plain dealing1674
wit and reason1680
comet1685
lansquenet1687
incertain1689
macham1689
uptails1694
quinze1714
hoc1730
commerce1732
matrimonya1743
tredrille1764
Tom come tickle me1769
tresette1785
snitch'ems1798
tontine1798
blind hazard1816
all fives1838
short cards1845
blind hookey1852
sixty-six1857
skin the lamb1864
brisque1870
handicap1870
manille1874
forty-five1875
slobberhannes1877
fifteen1884
Black Maria1885
slapjack1887
seven-and-a-half1895
pit1904
Russian Bank1915
red dog1919
fan-tan1923
Pelmanism1923
Slippery Sam1923
go fish1933
Russian Banker1937
racing demon1938
pit-a-pat1947
scopa1965
1621 J. Taylor Motto D iv At Primefisto, Post and payre, Primero,..he's a lib'rall Hero; At My-Sow-pigg'd, and (Reader neuer doubt ye, He's skil'd in all games, except) Looke about ye.
1642 Tom Nash His Ghost A iv For your Religions you may (many of you) cast Crosse and Pile, and for your iust dealing you may play at my Sow ha's Pigg'd.
1734 Poor Robin C vj The Lawyers play at Beggar my Neighbour; the School~masters play at Questions and Commands; the Farmers play at My Sow's pigg'd.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield 115 ‘My sow's pigg'd’ was a game at cards played in this neighbourhood some forty-five years ago.
2. Applied to persons (male or female) as a term of abuse, opprobrium, or reproach, esp. to a fat, clumsy, or slovenly woman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirty person > [noun]
mesela1400
scabbardc1440
slotterbugc1440
drivel1498
sow1508
wallydraigle?a1513
sloven1530
filthy1553
ketterela1572
slabberer1611
slubberdegullion1612
Grobian1621
slabberdegullion1653
slobber-chops1670
slate1718
haverel1720
slobberer1732
slummock1760
fleabag1805
slush1825
slob1876
trashbag1887
crumb1918
garbage can1925
hog1932
crud1940
sordid1959
grot1970
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused
warlockOE
swinec1175
beastc1225
wolf's-fista1300
avetrolc1300
congeonc1300
dirtc1300
slimec1315
snipec1325
lurdanc1330
misbegetc1330
sorrowa1350
shrew1362
jordan1377
wirlingc1390
frog?a1400
warianglea1400
wretcha1400
horcop14..
turdc1400
callet1415
lotterela1450
paddock?a1475
souter1478
chuff?a1500
langbain?c1500
cockatrice1508
sow1508
spink1508
wilrone1508
rook?a1513
streaker?a1513
dirt-dauber?1518
marmoset1523
babiona1529
poll-hatcheta1529
bear-wolf1542
misbegotten1546
pig1546
excrement1561
mamzer1562
chuff-cat1563
varlet1566
toada1568
mandrake1568
spider1568
rat1571
bull-beef1573
mole-catcher1573
suppository1573
curtal1578
spider-catcher1579
mongrela1585
roita1585
stickdirta1585
dogfish1589
Poor John1589
dog's facec1590
tar-boxa1592
baboon1592
pot-hunter1592
venom1592
porcupine1594
lick-fingers1595
mouldychaps1595
tripe1595
conundrum1596
fat-guts1598
thornback1599
land-rat1600
midriff1600
stinkardc1600
Tartar1600
tumbril1601
lobster1602
pilcher1602
windfucker?1602
stinker1607
hog rubber1611
shad1612
splay-foot1612
tim1612
whit1612
verdugo1616
renegado1622
fish-facea1625
flea-trapa1625
hound's head1633
mulligrub1633
nightmare1633
toad's-guts1634
bitch-baby1638
shagamuffin1642
shit-breech1648
shitabed1653
snite1653
pissabed1672
bastard1675
swab1687
tar-barrel1695
runt1699
fat-face1740
shit-sack1769
vagabond1842
shick-shack1847
soor1848
b1851
stink-pot1854
molie1871
pig-dog1871
schweinhund1871
wind-sucker1880
fucker1893
cocksucker1894
wart1896
so-and-so1897
swine-hound1899
motherfucker1918
S.O.B.1918
twat1922
mong1926
mucker1929
basket1936
cowson1936
zombie1936
meatball1937
shower1943
chickenshit1945
mugger1945
motherferyer1946
hooer1952
morpion1954
mother1955
mother-raper1959
louser1960
effer1961
salaud1962
gunk1964
scunge1967
1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 211 Insensuate sow, cesse, false Eustase air.
a1585 Ld. Polwart Flyting with Montgomerie 743 Sweir sow, doyld kow, ay fow, foull fall thy banes!
1630 Articles against Durham Innovators in J. Cosin Corr. 3 Aug. (1869) I. xc. 174 You tore her sleeve, with these reprochfull words, ‘Can ye not stand, ye lazie sowes?’
1684 G. Meriton York-shire Dial. (E.D.S.) 13 Ise ding thy Harnes out, thou base mucky Sew.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Sow,..a term of Reproach given many times to a fat, lazy, rank, big breasted Woman.
1725 N. Bailey tr. Erasmus All Familiar Colloquies 261 The Wife [has been called] Sow, Fool, dirty Drab.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Sow, a fat woman.
1803 A. Boswell Songs 5 Ye're a sow, auld man, Ye get fou, auld man.
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Sow, an inelegant female, a dirty wench.
3. In various phrases or proverbial uses:
a. to get, have, or take the (or †a) wrong (or right) sow by the ear, or variants of this: To get hold of, hit upon, the wrong (or right) person or thing; to take an incorrect (or correct) view; to arrive at a wrong (or right) conclusion, solution, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > be right [verb (intransitive)]
to reckon righta1400
to read right?a1425
to get, have, or take the (or a) wrong (or right) sow by the ear1546
to get (also have) something right1565
to have the right scope of1570
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > mistake [phrase]
to miss the cushiona1529
to get, have, or take the (or a) wrong (or right) sow by the ear1546
to pray without one's beads1641
to have the wrong end of the stick?1793
to bark up the wrong tree1832
the boot (is) on the wrong leg or foot1834
to have another think coming1896
you have another guess coming1935
to be off the beam1941
blow1943
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ix. sig. Kiv Ye maie see, ye tooke The wrong waie to wood, & the wrong sow by theare.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 2034/1 I perceiue..that that man hath the sow by the right eare.
1630 J. Taylor Wit & Mirth in Wks. ii. 180/2 I knew when he first medled with your Ladyship, that hee had a wrong Sow by the eare.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Æsop ii. 16 He that goes to a courtier in hope to get fairly rid of 'em may be said, in our country-dialect, to take the wrong sow by the ear.
1761 Brit. Mag. 2 463 Crabshaw..told her he believed she had got the right sow by the ear.
1841 T. Hood Tale of Trumpet iii, in New Monthly Mag. Sept. 162 The sow that ought By the ear is caught—And the sin to the sinful door is brought.
1847 T. De Quincey Schlosser's Lit. Hist. in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 582/2 When he finds that he has not only got the wrong sow by the ear, but actually sold the sow to a bookseller.
b. In other allusive phrases.See also silk n. and adj. Compounds 1 and still adj.
ΚΠ
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. Dv Litle knoweth the fat sow, what the lean doth meane.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vii. sig. Iiiv God a mercy hors, a pyg of myne owne sowe.
1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) i. xi. sig. Ciiv What should we (quoth he) grease the fat sow in thars.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest Pref. sig. Aviij Not to teach or shew the learned, howe in this point Nature hath wrought (for that were as the prouerb is, ye Sow to Minerua).
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 676 In Latin they say Sus mineruam, when an vnlearned dunce goeth about to teach his better or a more learned man,..or as we say in English, the foule Sow teach the faire Lady to spin.
c. In comparative phrases, esp. as drunk as David's sow or as a sow (cf. quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > completely or very drunk
drunk as a (drowned) mousea1350
to-drunka1382
as drunk as the devilc1400
sow-drunk1509
fish-drunk1591
swine-drunk1592
gone1603
far gone1616
reeling drunk1620
soda1625
souseda1625
blind1630
full1631
drunk (also merry, tipsy) as a lord1652
as full (or tight) as a tick1678
clear1688
drunk (dull, mute) as a fish1700
as drunk as David's sow or as a sow1727
as drunk as a piper1728
blind-drunkc1775
bitch foua1796
blootered1820
whole-seas over1820
three sheets in the wind1821
as drunk as a loon1830
shellaced1881
as drunk as a boiled owl1886
stinking1887
steaming drunk1892
steaming with drink1897
footless1901
legless1903
plastered1912
legless drunk1926
stinko1927
drunk as a pissant1930
kaylied1937
langers1949
stoned1952
smashed1962
shit-faced1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
trashed1966
faced1968
stoned1968
steaming1973
langered1979
annihilated1980
obliterated1984
wankered1992
muntered1998
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. i. sig. Fiii As meete as a sow To beare a saddle.
a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. F2 I am as seruiceable at a table, as a sow is vnder an apple tree.
1727 J. Gay New Song Similes in J. Swift et al. Misc.: Last Vol. ii For, though as drunk as David's sow, I love her still the better.
1816 Sporting Mag. 48 39 A man is said to be..when he cannot see, ‘as drunk as a sow’.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. 233 ‘As happy as a sow i' muck,’ or ‘in a muck-hill’; a phrase setting forth the contented state of those who live for sensual pleasure.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. 233 ‘As drunk as David's sow’ is a simile conveying the idea of the deepest state of intoxication.
4.
a. Military. A movable structure having a strong roof, used to cover men advancing to the walls of a besieged town or fortress, and to protect them while engaged in sapping and mining or other operations. Now Historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > movable shed
sow1297
mantel1357
snail1408
vinet1408
whelk1408
circlec1440
barbed-cat1489
mantle1489
mantlet1524
vine1565
tortoise1569
sow-guard1582
penthouse1600
penticle1600
target-roof1601
vinea1601
fence-roof1609
testudo1609
cat-house1614
vineyard1650
tortoiseshell1726
manta1829
cat1833
ram-house1850
tortoise-roof1855
bear1865
c1125 William of Malmesbury Gesta Regum Anglorum (1998) I. iv. §369. 646 Vnum fuit machinamentum quod nostri suem, ueteres uineam uocant, quod machina..protegit in se subsidentes, qui quasi more suis ad murorum suffodienda penetrant fundamenta.]
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 8480 A gyn þat me sowe clupeþ hii made ek wel strong, Muche folc inne vor to be boþe wid & long.1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy ii. 6434 What with gynnys..And gonnys grete, for to caste stonys.., And large sowis lowe for to myne.1486 Excheq. Rolls Scot. IX. 434 Willelmo Andirson, carpentario, pro factura unius instrumenti bellici vocati le sow.1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 597 Of gret gestis ane sow thai maid, That stalward heling owth it had, With armyt men enew thar-in.1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 342 Than pik and tar, talloun and brynt stane,..Vpoun that sow richt suddantlie leit fall, Quhilk..scaldit her richt mony than to deid Within the sow.1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia i. xiii. 45 Engines..Militarie; as Battering-Rams, Sowes, Horses, Tortuses.1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia i. x. 68 The Castle therefore they besiege, and placed an Engine (well knowen in this Countrey), called a Sow (to the Wals thereof) to supp [sic] the same.1694 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) iv. xl. 159 The Engineers..fitted up the great Sow.1788 F. Grose Mil. Antiq. II. 307 Two machines, the one called the boar, the other the sow, were employed by the parliamentarians in the siege of Corfe castle.1828 P. F. Tytler Hist. Scotl. I. iv. 357 It was determined to undermine the walls; and for this purpose, a huge machine was constructed... From its shape and covering, this formidable engine was called a sow.1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. ix. 146 They made a floating-sow, and thrust it on before them as they worked across the stream.1893 H. J. Moule Old Dorset 211 The Parliamentarians took the trouble to bring this ponderous affair, called a ‘sow’, close to the Castle.
Categories »
b. U.S. ‘A movable shed used as a protection by miners’ (1895 Funk's Standard Dict. Eng. Lang.).
5.
a. A woodlouse or sow-bug. Now chiefly dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Arthostraca > order Isopoda > family Oniscidae or genus Oniscus
lockchestera1400
sow14..
lugdora1425
louk?a1450
lockchestc1450
cheslip1530
palmer1538
chestworm1544
Robin Goodfellow's louse1552
monk's peason1558
cheslock1574
porcelet1578
swine louse1579
hog-louse1580
multiped1601
kitchen-bob1610
woodlouse1611
loop1612
millipede1612
timber-sow1626
cheeselog1657
sow-louse1658
thurse-louse1658
onisc1661
monkey pea1682
slater1684
slatter1739
sow-bug1750
Oniscus1806
pig louse1819
hob-thrush1828
land-slater1863
pig's louse1888
wall-louse1899
oniscoid1909
chucky-pig1946
14.. in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 204 Geve hym of these sowes that crepe with many fete, and falle oute of howce rovys.
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount f. 23v Then take twelue or fiftene of these litle beastes called Monkes peason or sowes.
1572 L. Mascall tr. D. Brossard L'Art et Maniere de Semer vii, in Bk. Plant & Graffe Trees 51 There be little beastes called Sowes, which haue many legs.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. viii. 39 If wals be full of sowes and such other like vermine.
1668 W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 50 Asellus, the Tylers Lowse, or, Sow.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Ulcer For Ulcers.., Take Millepedes, call'd by some in English Wood-Lice, and by others Sows.
a1825– in dial. glossaries (E. Anglia, Linc., Leic., Northants, Nottingham, etc.)
1877 F. P. Pascoe Zool. Classif. 62 Some of the Oniscidæ are land animals, and are known as hog-lice, sows, &c.
b. sea-sow: see sea-sow n. at sea n. Compounds 6d.
6. technical. A large oblong mass of solidified metal as obtained from the blast- or smelting-furnace:
a. Of lead. Now Obsolete or rare.So Middle Dutch soge in a document of 1445.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > [noun] > lead > lead in specific form > pig or half-pig
sow1481
pig1589
piece1747
stave1864
1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 311 My Lord paied to Geffrey Blower for ij. sowes lede..weying..xvj. c. iij. quarters and xiiij. lb.
a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 72 With clothes vpon her hed That wey a sowe of led.
1546 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 182 For meltyng of the leade.., and castyng into sowes.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 611 Twenty sowes of lead long in forme, but foure square.
1668 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 3 770 It is cast into Sand, and runs into those Sowes (as they call them) which they sell.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 260/2 A Pig or Sow of Lead, is generally about three hundred pounds apiece.
1700 J. Brome Trav. i. 31 The [Lead] Ore..being..afterward melted down into Pigs and Sows, as they are there call'd.
b. Of iron. (See note to pig n.1 11 and quots.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > [noun] > a pig of iron
sow1539
pig1657
1539 in Hist. Sussex (Victoria Co. Hist.) II. 245/2 To melt the Sowes in ij forges or Fynories ther must be iiij persones.
1612 S. Sturtevant Metallica xv. 108 The second kinde of Mettellar is the sowe of iron.
a1650 G. Boate Irelands Nat. Hist. (1652) xvii. 139 The molten Iron..turning into a hard and stiff mass, which masses are called Sowes by the workmen.
1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads xxiii. 817 And then of Iron he brought out a Sough Such as at first it from the Fornace came.
a1744 Lucas in Trans. Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archæol. Soc. (1908) 8 38 They break the Sow and Pigs off from one another, and the Sow into the same Lengths with the Piggs.
1837 N. Whittock et al. Compl. Bk. Trades (1842) 408 [article Smith] The price of iron, in bars, pigs, and ‘sows’, has been upon the advance.
1894 Harper's Mag. Jan. 418 When the metal cools, the larger masses are called ‘sows’, and the smaller ‘pigs’.
c. In general use: A bar or mass of metal; an ingot. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > metal in specific state or form > [noun] > cast metal > in form of pigs > pig, ingot, or bar
gada1325
lingot1488
rod1494
niggot1579
nygot1579
ingot1582
sow1590
pig1620
forge-pig1839
1590 E. Webbe Rare & Wonderfull Things (new ed.) sig. B3 A place..where they had great store of treasure and Sowes of siluer.
1596 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent (rev. ed.) Ed. Ded. sig. A2 By fire to trie out the Metall, and to cast it into certeine rude lumpes, which they call Sowze.
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) 225 Diodorus reckons upward of 400 thousand talents of silver, and gold in sowes and wedges.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi ii. App. 41/1 Upon further Diving, the Indian fetcht up a Sow, as they stil'd it, or a Lump of Silver.
d. figurative or in figurative context.
ΚΠ
1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 387 If any man shall like to take this my base mettall, drawne out of a fewe Sowȝe, into many Sheetes.
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 64 This vnciuill Norman hotpotch, this sow of lead, that hath neuer a ring at the end to lift it vp by.
e. One of the larger channels, or the main channel, in the hearth of an iron-smelting furnace, serving as a feeder to the smaller channels or ‘pigs’ (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > parts of furnace > [noun] > hearth or floor of furnace > parts of
ash-hole1651
workstone1667
ash-pit1797
sow1843
cinderblock1868
1843 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. 371 The metal is led from the furnace, through a gutter lined with sand, into a large trough or sow, the end of which is closed with a shuttle.
1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron 129 These feeders or sows are themselves put in connection with a common main channel, d, leading from the tap-hole to the lower end of the sand- or pig-bed.
f. (See quot. 1873.)
ΚΠ
1873 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1871–3 1 112 Metallic iron, not finding heat enough in a lead-furnace to keep it sufficiently fluid to run out with the slag, congeals in the hearth, and forms what smelters term ‘sows’, ‘bears’, ‘horses’, or ‘salamanders’.
7. Scottish and northern. A large oblong-shaped rick or stack, esp. of hay.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [noun] > stacking or ricking > stack or rick
moweOE
rickeOE
pease-ricka1325
stackc1330
tassc1330
rucka1382
hayrick14..
haystack14..
sedge reekc1440
hay-mow1483
hay-goaf1570
rack1574
hovel1591
scroo1604
mow-stack1611
sow1659
corn-rick1669
bean-rick1677
barley-mow1714
pea rick1766
rickle1768
bike1771
stacklet1796
bean-stack1828
1659 A. Hay Diary (1901) 155 My whole hey was a great ruck of the Lawes meadow, and 3 litle rucks,..all which I did put in one sow in the yaird.
1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) v. 125 Severall great sows of hay were on the cannall..; it looked very odd to see a hay sow, perhaps fifty or sixty foot long,..sailling along.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 220 The stack is frequently made in an oblong form, which is vulgarly called a sow.
1833 J. S. Sands Poems 168 (E.D.D.) Like the donkey wi' the sous Of hay.
1871 C. Gibbon For Lack of Gold viii Behind was the farm-yard, and well-stocked with fat stacks of grain and hay ‘sows’.

Compounds

C1. General attributive and in other combinations (chiefly in sense 1).
a.
(a)
sowcunt n. coarse nonce-wd.
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 517 (Her sowcunt barks). Fohracht!
sow-feeder n.
ΚΠ
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. (Suppl.) 37/2 Such an arrangement with individual sow-feeders, allows for better attention to each sow.
sow-hair n.
ΚΠ
a1600 T. Deloney Gentle Craft (1627) i. iv. sig. Civ The Aule steele and Tackes, the Sow-haires beside.
sow-herd n.
ΚΠ
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Scrofipascus,.. a sow hearde.
sow-pap n.
ΚΠ
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 437 Þan he garte caste it emang swyne at þai mott devowr it; and þer it was nurisshid on a sew papp.
sow-skin n.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iii. 20 If Tinkers may haue leaue to liue, and beare the Sow-skin Bowget.
1823 Spirit of Public Jrnls. 459 He instantly crammed it back again into the sow-skin purse from which he had taken it.
sow-sticking n.
ΚΠ
1883 Longman's Mag. Apr. 649 At the sow-sticking..the neighbours lend helping hands.
sow-tail n.
ΚΠ
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 154 A runt was like a sow-tail Sae bow't that night.
sow-teat n.
ΚΠ
a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 216 Trypherus the learned, who Carves large sow-teats.
(b)
sow-dugged adj.
ΚΠ
1960 W. H. Auden Homage to Clio 55 Steatopygous, sow-dugged and owl-headed.
(c)
sow-like adv.
ΚΠ
1603 J. Davies Microcosmos 162 For, to dismount from true loues loftie pitch..Is, Sow-like, to lie mired in the ditch Of lowest Hell.
b. See also sow-gelder n., sow-iron n., sow-metal n.
sow-belly n. U.S. slang (salted) side of pork.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > pork > [noun] > salt or cured pork
Old Ned1833
sidemeat1841
sow-belly1867
salt side1892
pancetta1954
1867 W. L. Goss Soldier's Story 205 My captor presented to me a generous slice of ‘sow-belly’.
1874 J. C. McCoy Hist. Sketches Cattle Trade To fish up a piece of ‘sow belly’ and dine sumptuously.
1898 Daily News 12 July 5/3 Some of them are begging food from the soldiers, who can give nothing except ‘sow belly and hard tack’.
1902 O. Wister Virginian vi. 65 The eternal ‘sow-belly’, beans, and coffee.
1945 B. Macdonald Egg & I (1946) iii. viii. 97 Tits fed this baby pickles, beer, sow-belly and cabbage.
1976 G. Ewart No Fool iii. 69 To go into your South, a different life. Sow-belly and cornbread with syrup poured over it.
sow-drunk adj. (see sense 3c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > completely or very drunk
drunk as a (drowned) mousea1350
to-drunka1382
as drunk as the devilc1400
sow-drunk1509
fish-drunk1591
swine-drunk1592
gone1603
far gone1616
reeling drunk1620
soda1625
souseda1625
blind1630
full1631
drunk (also merry, tipsy) as a lord1652
as full (or tight) as a tick1678
clear1688
drunk (dull, mute) as a fish1700
as drunk as David's sow or as a sow1727
as drunk as a piper1728
blind-drunkc1775
bitch foua1796
blootered1820
whole-seas over1820
three sheets in the wind1821
as drunk as a loon1830
shellaced1881
as drunk as a boiled owl1886
stinking1887
steaming drunk1892
steaming with drink1897
footless1901
legless1903
plastered1912
legless drunk1926
stinko1927
drunk as a pissant1930
kaylied1937
langers1949
stoned1952
smashed1962
shit-faced1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
trashed1966
faced1968
stoned1968
steaming1973
langered1979
annihilated1980
obliterated1984
wankered1992
muntered1998
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. xvli Some sowe dronke, swaloyinge mete without mesure Some mawdelayne dronke, mournynge lowdly & hye.
c1522 T. More Treat. Memorare Nouissima in Wks. (1557) I. 82 Yet shal ye find mo yt drink themself sow drunk of pride to be called good felowes, than for luste of the drink self.
1880 Ld. Tennyson Northern Cobbler iv Soa sow~droonk that tha doesn not touch thy 'at to the Squire.
† sow-guard n. Obsolete = sense 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > movable shed
sow1297
mantel1357
snail1408
vinet1408
whelk1408
circlec1440
barbed-cat1489
mantle1489
mantlet1524
vine1565
tortoise1569
sow-guard1582
penthouse1600
penticle1600
target-roof1601
vinea1601
fence-roof1609
testudo1609
cat-house1614
vineyard1650
tortoiseshell1726
manta1829
cat1833
ram-house1850
tortoise-roof1855
bear1865
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 34 They clinge thee scalinges too wals, and vnder a sowgard They clymb.
sow-libber n. Scottish a sow-gelder.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping of pigs > [noun] > spaying sow > one who
sow-gelder?1518
sow-libber1706
1706 Blythsome Wedding in J. Watson Choice Coll. Scots Poems (1977) I. 22 There will be Sow-libber Peatie.
sow-louse n. a woodlouse, sow-bug (now dialect).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Arthostraca > order Isopoda > family Oniscidae or genus Oniscus
lockchestera1400
sow14..
lugdora1425
louk?a1450
lockchestc1450
cheslip1530
palmer1538
chestworm1544
Robin Goodfellow's louse1552
monk's peason1558
cheslock1574
porcelet1578
swine louse1579
hog-louse1580
multiped1601
kitchen-bob1610
woodlouse1611
loop1612
millipede1612
timber-sow1626
cheeselog1657
sow-louse1658
thurse-louse1658
onisc1661
monkey pea1682
slater1684
slatter1739
sow-bug1750
Oniscus1806
pig louse1819
hob-thrush1828
land-slater1863
pig's louse1888
wall-louse1899
oniscoid1909
chucky-pig1946
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 932 Flyes, Gnats, Sowlice, Fleas, that do much hurt and do no good.
1866 J. E. Brogden Provinc. Words Lincs. Sow-louse, the wood-louse.
C2. In plant-names. See also sow-thistle n.Some others are current in dialects or U.S.
† sowbane n. Obsolete goosefoot (Chenopodium).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Chenopodiaccae (goose-foot and allies) > [noun] > goose-foot
goose-foot1548
oak of Jerusalem1551
chenopod1555
oak of Paradise1578
stinking motherwort1578
allseed1597
chenopodium1597
good King Harry1597
stinking orach1597
sowbane1657
strawberry blite1753
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cccix. 577 Goose-foot or Sowbane.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 271 Red Goosefoot. Sowbane.
† sow-fennel n. Obsolete sulphur-wort.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Umbelliferae (umbellifers) > [noun] > hog's fennel and allies
swine's fennel?a1425
swine's finkle?a1450
hog's fennel1525
dog fennel1526
harstrang1562
mountain parsley1578
sow-fennel1578
sulphurwort1578
much good1597
rock parsley1597
milky parsley1640
brimstone-wort1678
marsh milkweed1787
milk parsley1787
sea sulphur-wort1807
sea sulphur-weed1850
sulphur-weed1850
sea hog's-fennel1855
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 298 It is called..in Englishe also Peucedanum, Horestrong,..Sowe fenill, and of some Sulphurwurt.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Fenouil de porceau, Sow-fennell, Hogs-fennell.
sow-tit n. the wood-strawberry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > edible berries > strawberry > types of
capron1693
hautboy1731
pine strawberry1754
Alpine1771
scarlet strawberry1786
sow-tit1788
Royal Sovereign1795
pineapple strawberry1796
scarlet1815
1788 M. Cutler Jrnl. 18 Aug. in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) I. 410 It is on a plain..covered with trees—a white oak four feet in diameter near the summit—cavity in the middle covered with sow-tits.
sow-wort n. = sow-bread n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > primrose and allied flowers > cyclamen
earth applelOE
dill-nuta1450
swine-bread1526
rape violet1548
cyclamen?1550
sow-bread?1550
sow's bread1558
lady's seal1592
hog's bread1607
sow-wort1838
1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 708 M. Saladin found in the root of the Cyclamen Europeum, or sow wort, a peculiar bitter principle.
C3. With the names of animals, etc., in the sense of ‘female’. See also sow-pig n.
a.
sow beaver n.
ΚΠ
1959 E. Collier Three against Wilderness xxi. 210 She was an old sow beaver who could be reckoned upon to give birth to four or five sturdy kits.
sow-cat n.
ΚΠ
1676 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 11 592 A Chat Pard (supposed to be engendred by a Leopard and a Sow-catt).
1689 N. Lee Princess of Cleve iii. i St. A. For there's two ravenous Sow-Cats will Eat you. El. Your Wives you mean.
1875 W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. 108 I'll give that old sow-cat o' yourn a sock aside the head.
† sow-child n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Sow-child, a Female Child.
sow grizzly bear n.
ΚΠ
1976 Telegraph-Jrnl. (St. John, New Brunswick) 12 Aug. 12/4 A sow grizzly bear that..mauled him..was only trying to protect her young.
sow-hog n.
ΚΠ
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Zoch, a Sowe-hogge.
sow-swine n.
ΚΠ
1822 P. B. Shelley tr. J. W. von Goethe Scenes from Faust ii. 154 Upon a sow~swine, whose farrows were nine, Old Baubo rideth alone.
b.
sow-wasp n. dialect a queen wasp.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > queen
king-wasp1724
queen1724
queen wasp1724
sow-wasp1875
1875 W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. 110 In some parts of the county a reward of sixpence is offered for each sow-waps killed in the spring.
C4. Genitival combinations.
sow's-baby n. slang and Cant (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [noun]
swineOE
hogOE
grice?c1225
pig?a1425
pork?a1425
grunterc1440
gussie15..
grunting-cheat1567
snorter1601
sow's-baby1699
grumphie1786
piggy-wig1870
turf-hog1880
troughster1892
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > sixpence
tester1560
half-shilling1561
teston1577
mill sixpence1592
crinklepouch1593
sixpencea1616
testrila1616
piga1640
sice1660
Simon1699
sow's-baby1699
kick1725
cripple1785
grunter1785
tilbury1796
tizzy1804
tanner1811
bender1836
lord of the manor1839
snid1839
sprat1839
fiddler1846
sixpenny bit or piece1897
zac1898
sprasey1905
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [noun] > young > sucking-pig
suckerc1384
sucking-pig1553
sow's-baby1699
bonham1849
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Sow's baby, a Pig.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Sow's baby, a sucking pig.
1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 98 Sow's baby,..sixpence.
sow's-back n. local (see quot. 1789).
ΚΠ
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. 107 We..bring up a level mine under the pavement of the coal, quite through the ridge, in order to level the coal upon the other side of it. Some of the Scots colliers call this a ridge, others of them call it a hirst, and some of them call it a sow's-back.
† sow's bread n. Obsolete = sow-bread n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > primrose and allied flowers > cyclamen
earth applelOE
dill-nuta1450
swine-bread1526
rape violet1548
cyclamen?1550
sow-bread?1550
sow's bread1558
lady's seal1592
hog's bread1607
sow-wort1838
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes (1562) 13 Take an herbe called..in Englishe sowes breade.
† sow's thistle n. Obsolete = sow-thistle n.
ΚΠ
a1400 Stockholm Med. MS. f. 198 Sowesthystyl, labrum.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

sown.2

Brit. /saʊ/, U.S. /saʊ/
Forms: Also sowe (1800s dialect sou, saa).
Etymology: apparently distinct < sough n.2, and perhaps identical with Flemish dialect zou (†souwe, soeuwe in Plantin and Kilian) drain.
Now dialect.
A drain; a channel or run of water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [noun] > channel for conveyance of water
water leatOE
water lade1224
leat1279
watergang1293
sow1316
trough1398
wissinga1400
lanec1420
waterway1431
water leasow1440
watercoursea1450
fleam1523
lead1541
cut1548
aqueducta1552
lake1559
strand1565
race1570
channel1581
watergauge1597
gout1598
server1610
carriage1669
runnel1669
aquage1706
shoot1707
tewel1725
run1761
penstock1763
hulve1764
way-gang1766
culvert1774
flume1784
shute1790
pentrough1793
raceway1793
water carriage1793
carrier1794
conductor1796
water carrier1827
penchute1875
chute1878
by-cut1883
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > ditch
dikec893
gripa1000
ditch1045
fosselOE
water-furrowlOE
sow1316
furrowc1330
rick1332
sewer1402
gripplec1440
soughc1440
grindle1463
sheugh1513
syre1513
rain?1523
trench1523
slough1532
drain1552
fowsie?1553
thorougha1555
rean1591
potting1592
trink1592
syver1606
graft1644
work1649
by-ditch1650
water fence1651
master drain1652
rode1662
pudge1671
gripe1673
sulcus1676
rhine1698
rilling1725
mine1743
foot trench1765
through1777
trench drain1779
trenchlet1782
sunk fence1786
float1790
foot drain1795
tail-drain1805
flow-dike1812
groopa1825
holla1825
thorough drain1824
yawner1832
acequia madre1835
drove1844
leader1844
furrow-drain1858
1316 in W. H. Stevenson Rep. MSS Ld. Middleton (1911) 88 Predicti Adam et socii sui gutturam, que dicitur ‘le sowe’,..reparabunt.
1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 359 A kind of ocre..falls to the bottom of the chanels of all..mineral springs, whether sowes or others.
1670 W. Simpson Hydrol. Ess. 133 All spaws, whether vitrioline from sowes or aluminous.
1709 R. Thoresby Diary (1830) II. 50 Both days entirely spent with labourers, directing and overseering the sows to drain water.
1807 J. Stagg Misc. Poems (new ed.) 5 Owr hill an' knowe, thro' seugh an' sowe, Comes tiftan many o' couple.
1824– in Yorkshire and Cumberld. glossaries.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

sown.3

Forms: In Middle English sau, saw.
Etymology: < sow v.1
rare.
An act of sowing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > [noun]
sowing1362
sowa1400
sation?1440
semination1531
seeding1541
seedness1549
seedage1610
sature1657
insemination1658
grass seeding1823
semence1859
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6378 He þam ledd..And fand þam fode in þair nede, Wit-vten ani sau [Fairf. saw] o sede.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

sown.4

Brit. /saʊ/, U.S. /saʊ/
Forms: Also Middle English sowe.
Etymology: Of obscure origin.
Obsolete exc. dialect.
A blow or stroke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > a stroke or blow
dintc897
swengOE
shutec1000
kill?c1225
swipc1275
stroke1297
dentc1325
touchc1325
knock1377
knalc1380
swapc1384
woundc1384
smitinga1398
lush?a1400
sowa1400
swaipa1400
wapc1400
smita1425
popc1425
rumbelowc1425
hitc1450
clope1481
rimmel1487
blow1488
dinga1500
quartera1500
ruska1500
tucka1500
recounterc1515
palta1522
nolpc1540
swoop1544
push1561
smot1566
veny1578
remnant1580
venue1591
cuff1610
poltc1610
dust1611
tank1686
devel1787
dunching1789
flack1823
swinge1823
looder1825
thrash1840
dolk1861
thresh1863
mace-blow1879
pulsation1891
nosebleeder1921
slosh1936
smackeroo1942
dab-
a1400 Sir Eglamour 317 Syr Egyllamowre hys swerde owt drowe, And to the yeant he gafe a sowe, And blyndyd hym in that tyde.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

sown.5

Etymology: Of obscure origin.
Scottish. rare.
1. A bride's outfit of clothes; a trousseau.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > wedding > bride's clothes
sow1806
trousseau1833
bridalwear1850
1806 W. M. Morison Decisions Court of Session XXV. 10436 Andrew Littlejohn pursues the Duchess of Monmouth her curator for payment of a taylor-account taken off by the Duchess for her marriage sow.
1887 D. Donaldson Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. Addenda Sou, sowe, a bride's outfit or braws... This term is now used only by the fisher-folk of the N.E. of Scot. from Nairn to Buckie.
2. A burial garment; a shroud.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > preparation or treatment of corpse > [noun] > laying or wrapping in shroud > shroud
sheetc1000
sendala1300
sudaryc1380
winding-clotha1400
winding-sheetc1420
kellc1425
sindonc1500
shroud1570
shrouding sheet1576
cerement1604
church cloth1639
socking-sheet1691
death cloth1699
sow1763
windinga1825
burial-cloth1876
negligée1927
1763 ‘T. Insulanus’ Treat. Second Sight 18 The same girl died of a fever, and as there was no linen in the place but what was unbleached, it was made use of for her sowe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

sowv.1

/səʊ/
Inflections: Past tense sowed, (past participle) sowed, (past participle) sown;
Forms: 1. Present stem.

α. Old English–Middle English sawan, Middle English sæwæn, Middle English sawen, Middle English say (Scottish), Middle English schau (Scottish), Middle English schaw (Scottish), Middle English schawe (Scottish), Middle English sewen, Middle English zawen, Middle English (1500s Scottish) sau, Middle English–1500s sawe, Middle English– saw (Scottish and northern). c825– [see examples in B]. c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 147 Hie hiden wepende and sewende.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 214 Huo þanne ssolde erye and zawe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6839 Your land yee sal sau seuen yeir.c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxxii. 147 Þe folk.. sawez na land.c1440 in C. Innes Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis (1845) I. 250 Alsmekill land as a celdr of atis will schawe.c1480 (a1400) St. Machor 906 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 26 Prechand & sawand godis sed.c1480 (a1400) St. Ninian 133 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 308 To schau his seiyde. ▸ ?a1505 R. Henryson Against Hasty Credence 41 in Poems (1981) 165 O wicket tung, sawand dissentioun.1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Diiv/2 To Sawe corne, seminare.1581 J. Hamilton Catholik Traictise Epist. f. 3 To sau..pernicious heresie.c1639 W. Mure Psalmes cvii. 37 in Wks. (1898) II. 166 The feilds they saw.1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 159 Hemp-seed I saw thee.1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 202 They..might be for sawing the craft wi' aits.

β. Middle English soghe, Middle English souin, Middle English souwen, Middle English sowen, Middle English sowyn, Middle English–1600s sowe, 1500s soue, 1500s– sow, 1700s sew. c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 155 To sowen þe holie sed.a1250 Prov. Ælfred in Old Eng. Misc. 108 His sedes to sowen [v.r. souin].1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 10259 Ne þat bailif..ne soffrede hom nower come, To sowe.1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. vii. 59 I wol souwen hit my-self. ▸ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xiii. 3 He that sowith, goth out to sowe his seed.c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 67 In þat cete my saȝes soghe alle aboute.c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 466/1 Sowyn corne or oþer sedys, semino, sero.1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 725/2 I sowe corne.1532 Galway Arch. in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 405 Whatsoever man..shall..soue any varyaunce.1559 Queen Elizabeth I in R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Eliz. (1630) i. 32 To sow Religion.1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 49 When to sowe the Corn.

2. Past tense. a. Strong Old English seawu, Old English–Middle English seow, Old English–1600s (1700s dialect) sew, Middle English seeuȝh, Middle English seew, Middle English segh, Middle English seuȝ, Middle English siew, Middle English sue, Middle English 1600s sewe, Middle English–1500s seu, 1800s shewe (Scottish); plural Old English seowan, Old English seowon, Old English seowun, Old English sewon, Middle English seowe, Middle English seowen, Middle English sew, Middle English sewen, Middle English sowen, Middle English–1600s sewe. c825 [see sense 2a]. c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 39 Ðe fiond,..seðe sawes vel seawu, ða is diowl.971 Blickl. Hom. 3 Se Halga Gast seow þæt clæne sæd.c1175 Lamb. Hom. 133 A riche mon ferde ut and seow.c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 151 [He] siew þo on wowe.c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 151 Þe sed þat he sew.c1250 Hymn in Trin. Coll. Hom. 256 Þe holi gost hire on þe seuȝ.c1275 Moral Ode 23 in Old Eng. Misc. 59 Hwenne alle men repen schule þat heo ear seowe.c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8048 Hym þat þis child on me sew.c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 259 God repiþ many þingis þat he sue not.c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) i. lxxiv. 43 She brouhte the greyn..and seew it.1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. ix. 47 His fader eyrit and sew ane peice of feild.1565 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 244 Because I seu no winter corne ther.a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 59 Wee sewe nothinge but onely our in-field.a1800 S. Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. (1803) 105 I sew..my corn. b. Weak.

α. Middle English sawit, Middle English sceued, Middle English (1800s Scottish) sawed. c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 25 Ofer-geseawu vel geseawde.c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xix. 21 Þæt ðu ne gesaudesd.] a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 21226 O godds word he sceued þe sede.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 12323 (heading) How þe quete multiplied at ihesus sawed.1820 W. Scott Monastery II. i. 15 About the last barley ye sawed.

β. Middle English sowid, Middle English sowide, 1500s– sowed, 1600s sowd. 1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. xxvi. 12 Isaac forsothe sowide in that loond.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Deut. xi. 10 Where thou sowedest thy sede.1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xcj The Arrians..sowed abroade their opinions.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 358 He..sowd with Starrs the Heav'n.

3. Past participle. a. Strong.

α. Old English gesauen, Old English gisauen, Old English–Middle English gesawen, Old English–1500s sawen, Middle English saȝin, Middle English sauen, Middle English saun, Middle English sauun, Middle English sawing (Scottish), Middle English sawyn (Scottish), Middle English sawyne (Scottish), Middle English sewe, Middle English y-zawe, Middle English (1500s Scottish) sawin, Middle English (1800s Scottish and northern) sawn, 1500s saw (Scottish), 1500s–1600s sawne (Scottish). c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark iv. 15 Seðe ymb woeg ðer bið gesauen [Rushw. gisawen] word.971 Blickl. Hom. 133 Þa wæs heora lar sawen.a1300 Cursor Mundi 28174 O strif oft haue i sauun þe sede.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 255 Yef hit ys hol oþer aboue y-zawe [Fr. sursemée].c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 445 Vile sede of man with syn sawen.c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 420 A man þat had lande to be sawen.c1480 (a1400) St. Ninian 203 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 310 Þare he saw sawyne il seide.1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xii. l. 1226 Feill off that kyn in Scotland than was sawyn.1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid iv. Prol. 8 In fragill flesche ȝour fekill seid is saw.1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Eiv/1 Sawen, satus.c1629 W. Mure Sonn. iv, in Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 302 If once the seed of true Repentance sawne.1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Sawn, sown as grain.

β. Middle English i-sowe, Middle English i-sowen, Middle English sowe, Middle English sowun, Middle English y-sowe, Middle English y-sowen, Middle English–1600s sowen, Middle English–1600s sowne, Middle English– sown. a1250 Owl & Nightingale 1129 Þar newe sedes beoþ isowe.c1330 Arth. & Merl. 4537 (Kölbing) No corn no was ysowe.1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Lev. xxvii. 16 If..the feelde is sowun.c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 165 Rie of whete ysowen wul vp growe.?c1450 Songs, Carols, etc. (1907) 81 The sede of synne so thyke ys sowe.?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. vi That..styffe grounde..wold be sowen with byg.1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ix. sig. H7 True Loues are often sown.1608 J. Dod & R. Cleaver Plaine Expos. Proverbs xi–x 29 Some is sowne before others,..some is sowen after others.1697 J. Addison Ess. Georgics in J. Dryden tr. Virgil Wks. sig. ¶¶1v The Precepts..are sown so very thick.1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 353 A furrow which has been newly sown.1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 23 Wheat sown in the spring lives but six months.

b. Weak Middle English i-sowed, Middle English sowid, Middle English 1600s– sowed, 1500s sowd, 1600s–1700s sow'd. 1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. vi. 34 I haue..I-sowed his seed.1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Num. xx. 5 This worst place, that may not be sowid.1596 E. Spenser Fowre Hymnes 53 The house of blessed Gods,..All sowd with glistring stars.1656 A. Wright Five Serm. 126 The seed sowed in good ground.1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 119 Your corn should be sowed on broad ridges.1844 S. Wilberforce Hist. Protestant Episc. Church Amer. (1846) 63 It was ploughed and sowed.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Common Germanic, but presenting considerable variation in form, and changes of conjugation; the chief forms are Old English sáwan , Old Frisian *siâ (North Frisian sîn , se , East Frisian sâi ), Middle Dutch saeyen , zaeyen (Dutch zaaien ), Old Saxon sâian (Middle Low German seien , seigen , segen , Low German seien , saien ), Old High German sâjan , sâhen , sâen (Middle High German sæjen , sæhen , sæn , German säen ) and sâwen (Middle High German sæwen , sêwen ), Old Norse and Icelandic sá (Norwegian and Danish saa , Swedish så ), Gothic saian . The Germanic root *sǣ- (compare seed n.) has counterparts in Lithuanian séti, Old Slavonic sejati, Latin serĕre (perfect sēvi) to sow, and perhaps in Greek ἵημι. The original reduplicating conjugation is retained in the Gothic past tense saisō, Old Norse past tense sera, past participle sáinn (Middle Swedish sāin), Old English past tense séow, past participle gesáwen, Old Saxon past tense sêu (once), Old Frisian past participle esên. Transference to the weak conjugation has taken place in all the continental languages (as Old High German sâta, Old Saxon sâida, late Old Norse sáða); in English the past tense has become weak, the past participle still commonly retains the strong form.
Signification.
1. intransitive or absol. To perform the action of scattering or depositing seed on or in the ground so that it may grow. Also figurative and in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > sow [verb (intransitive)]
sowc825
c825 Vesp. Psalter cxxv. 5 Ða sawað in tearum, in gefian hie reopað.
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxv. 24 Ðu hripes ðer ðu ne sawes.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) vi. 26 Behealdað heofonan fuglas, forþam þe hig ne sawað ne hig ne ripað.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 131 Þe ðe saweð on blescunge he scal mawen of blescunge.
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 1039 Hit wes isayd..Þat mon schal eryen & sowe, Þar he weneþ after god mowe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 5003 Heo tileden heo seowen [c1300 Otho sewen] heo repen heo meowen.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. viii. 6 Al þat euere hulpen him to heren or to sowen.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 15 When I should saw, and wantyd seyde.
c1500 God speed the Plough (Skeat) 2 As I me walked ouer feldis wide When men began to Ere and to Sowe.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 30v As thou hast reaped where an other hath sowen.
1591 J. Harington Briefe Apol. Poetrie in tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso sig. ¶viijv For as men vse to sow with the hand and not with the whole sacke.
1663 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim (1687) xxxiii. 404 The birds..who neither sow nor reap.
1687 P. Ayres Lyric Poems (1906) 306 [I] Plough water, sow on rocks, and reap the wind.
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook viii, in Poems (new ed.) 57 Hae ye been mawin, When ither folk are busy sawin?
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 623 For a late summer and autumn crop, sow in the end of February.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 195 The pathsides where He has sown.
2.
a. transitive. To scatter seed on or upon (land, etc.) in order that it may grow; to supply with seed. Also, to sow (land) to (a crop). Cf. put v. 31b, plant v. 5d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > sow seed [verb (transitive)] > sow land
sowc825
seedlOE
seed1834
c825 Vesp. Psalter cvi. 37 [Hie] seowun lond.
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxiii Swa hwa swa wille sawan westmbære land.
c1000 Ælfric Leviticus xix. 19 Ne saw þu þinne æcyr mid gemengedum sæde.
a1250 Prov. Ælfred 123 Þey o mon ahte huntseuenti Acres, and he hi hadde isowen alle myd reade golde. And þat gold greowe [etc.].
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 10195 Þe king þo..vorbed þat me ne ssolde non of is lond sowe.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter cvi. 37 Þai sew feldis and þai plantid vyners.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. xlvii. 23 Takith seedis, and sowith feeldis, that ȝe mowen han lyuelodis.
1456–70 in Acts Parl. Scotl. (1875) XII. 26/2 The lardis of Meldrum has gart eyre and saw owr said landis of Canty.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Hi After that he tempereth it with dong, than eareth it, soweth it, and haroweth it.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 44v When you meane to let your ground lye againe for Meddowe or Pasture, your best is to sowe it with Oates.
1660 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 158 I shall want a little hay dust to sow the holes in the parsnage yard.
1735 S. Johnson tr. J. Lobo Voy. Abyssinia 47 They neither Sow their Lands, nor improve them by any kind of Culture.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 298 Cost and Profit of Clearing and Sowing with Wheat 10 Acres of Intervale Land.
1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 177 In a field of eleven acres,..the whole was sowed with barley.
1939 Sun (Baltimore) 4 July 16/2 There will be no possibility of spreading the galls to land that is sown to wheat or rye.
1972 Morning Star 4 Jan. 4/1 This was cattle-breeding country, with a dairy produce industry and with only about 75,000 acres sown to grain.
figurative and in extended use.c1420 J. Lydgate Assembly of Gods 1023 Sensualyte..sewe the felde with hys vnkynde seede That causyd Vertu aftyr mykyll woo to feele.1615 W. Bedwell tr. Mohammedis Imposturæ ii. §70 Euery man doth sow his wife.a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. i. 29 Itches, Blaines, Sowe all th' Athenian bosomes. View more context for this quotationa1822 P. B. Shelley Masque of Anarchy (1832) lxix. 35 The daily strife..Which sows the human heart with tares.
b. To strew or sprinkle (land, etc.) with something as in the sowing of seed. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter (a surface) with something
sticka1350
setc1386
ficche1413
sprinkle?1518
scatter1590
sow1611
spatter1647
shower1798
1611 Bible (King James) Judges ix. 45 And Abimelech..beat downe the citie and sowed it with salt. View more context for this quotation
1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 113 If once in four or five years you sow it with soot, it will increase it very much.
1831 W. Scott Count Robert x, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. II. 263 The whole mad crew..will return with fire and sword to burn down Constantinople, and sow with salt the place where it stood.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice III. x. iv. 177 He urged on the horses—he sowed the road with gold.
c. Of seed: To be sufficient for (a certain area).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > sow seed [verb (transitive)] > be sufficient seed for area
sowc1440
c1440 [see α. forms].
1685 W. Penn Further Acct. Pennsylvania 7 The Land requires less seed: Three Pecks of Wheat sow an Acre.
1761 Descr. of S. Carolina 70 About a Gallon of Indian Corn sows an Acre.
3. To cover or strew (a place, etc.) thickly with (also †of) something. Chiefly in past participle: Thickly strewn or dotted with something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter (a surface) with something > thickly
sowc1400
lard1543
bepeps1622
spottle1839
(a)
c1400 Pilgr. Sowle (1859) v. v. 75 This corowne is ful sowen of precious stones.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 18284 Withe lesyngs, (who lyst know,) vp and downe it is y-sowe.
c1500 Melusine (1895) xxxvi. 288 They thenne departed,..& fond in theire way the feldes sowen with sarasyns deed.
c1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliad (1887) vi. 92 When..he leaves the conquered field Sown with his slaughters.
1659 J. Dryden Heroique Stanza's xiv, in E. Waller et al. Three Poems 4 Thick as the Galaxy with starr's is sown.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 132 Beyond that, there is hardly any thing to be found but Desarts sowed with stones.
1759 Ann. Reg. 1758 52 All this sea is sown thick with sands and shoals.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess Prol. 3 For all the sloping pasture murmur'd sown With happy faces and with holiday.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 59 A close-set robe of jasmine sown with stars.
(b)a1631 J. Donne Poems (1633) 124 [It] sowes the Court with starres.1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 88 We..made the place so hot for 'em, and sowed the ground so thick with their dead Bodies.1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam lxx. 99 Whirl the ungarner'd sheaf afar, And sow the sky with flying boughs. View more context for this quotation
4.
a. To scatter or deposit (seed) on or in the ground, etc., for growth, usually by the action of the hand; to place or put (seed) in the ground; to plant (a crop) in this way.to sow one's wild oats: see to sow one's wild oats at wild oat n. Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > sow seed [verb (transitive)]
sowc1000
besowc1175
inseminate1623
to put in1657
sprain1744
shed1770
to get in1771
seminate1796
broadcast1807
seed1814
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 22 Genim tuncersan sio þe self weaxeð & mon ne sæwð.
a1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) 9 262 Beana sawan.
a1250 Prov. Ælfred 93 Þat..þe cheorl beo in fryþ his sedes to sowen.
1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Rolls) VIII. 139 Sedes þat were i-sowe fordried in þe erþe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12325 O quete a littel sede, Apon þe feld he-self it seu.
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. xiii. 15 The letuse in this moone is so to sowe.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. viiv It is necessary to shewe how all maner of corne shuld be sowen.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 14 Cleane rie that sowes, the better crop mowes.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. xx. 186 The want they have of bread, is countervailed with the rootes they sowe.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 49 When to turn The fruitful Soil, and when to sowe the Corn. View more context for this quotation
1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Feb. vii. 50 They sow [horse-beans] first Broad-cast over the Ground, and then plow them in: Thus, as we call it, being sown under Furrow.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 681 Sow spinach; earth up celery and broccoli.
1850 J. McCosh Method Divine Govt. (ed. 2) ii. ii. 206 He is a husbandman and about to sow the crops which are to be his sustenance.
1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 21 We sowed and planted Wall-flowers and Stone-crop upon it.
reflexive.1842 Ld. Tennyson Gardener's Daughter in Poems (new ed.) II. 22 A crowd of hopes, That sought to sow themselves like winged seeds.
b. transferred with reference to fish, bacilli, etc.
ΚΠ
1854 C. D. Badham Prose Halieutics 42 See..how gluttony, and a desire to please a dainty tooth, have devised means to sow fish, and to stock the sea with strange bread.
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. 169 As far back as the time of Rondelet the art of ‘sowing’ these molluscs [sc. oysters] was known.
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. viii. 148 When [the plague bacillus is] sown on blood serum.., an abundant, moist, yellowish-grey growth is formed.
c. Military. To lay or ‘plant’ (an explosive mine); spec. to drop (mines, etc.) by aircraft into the sea or otherwise. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > use of mines and explosives > use mines and explosives [verb (transitive)] > mine > lay (mines)
sow1939
1939 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Nov. 8/2 In the last conflict the Germans sowed 44,000 mines, 11,000 of them in British home waters.
1943 Sun (Baltimore) 26 Nov. 1/5 After they have dropped their first flares they remain over the target area, keeping it marked by sowing more flares.
1944 K. Douglas Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) xiv. 82 Mines were sown in the tracks of vehicles, where other vehicles might be expected to follow.
1974 Times 18 Apr. 1/3 A lot of anti-personnel mines sown on the canal banks have slipped into the water.
1979 J. Barnett Backfire is Hostile! xiii. 135 Twenty-four Tu-16 Badgers began..sowing at forty-two thousand feet.
5.
a. Used with seed (and some other terms) in transferred and figurative senses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > originate or be a source of [verb (transitive)]
sow971
mothera1425
author1598
origin1640
to be at the bottom of1650
principle1650
originate1653
inchoate1654
originize1657
(a)
971 Blickl. Hom. 3 Se Halga Gast seow þæt clæne sæd on þone unbesmitenan innoþ.
c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 445 He was geten..Of vile sede of man with syn sawen.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 189 Than suld..nocht sa mekle bastard seid [be] Throw out this cuntrie sawin.
(b)c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 534 Gif we eow þa gastlican sæd sawaþ, hwonlic biþ þæt we eowere flæsclican þing ripon.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5071 Þatt dæþess laþe sed Þatt defless æfre sawenn..Inn ure sawless wille.a1225 Juliana 74 Ant reope we of þat ripe sed þat we seowen.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 21226 In all þe stedes quar he yede, O godds word he sceued þe sede.a1400–50 Alexander 4404 To sawe emang þir simpill men sedis of debate.c1480 (a1400) St. Ninian 203 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 310 Þare he saw sawyne il seide, to distroy it he cane hyme spede.a1505 R. Henryson Test. Cresseid 137 in Poems (1981) 115 The seid of lufe was sawin in my face.1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Hi To haue greate profyte and encrease of our sede, that we haue so sowen for his loue.1576 A. Fleming tr. Solon in Panoplie Epist. 194 I am in belief (I may peraduenture sowe my seede in the sande) that [etc.].1648 Hunting of Fox 14 The tares of sedition which these envious men had sowen.1813 W. Coxe Mem. Kings of Spain I. *29 This celebrated act..sowed the germ of future wars.1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1877) II. vii. 30 In all this the seeds of the Conquest were sowing.
b. Contrasted with reap in figurative uses.See also quots. c1000 and a1225 at sense 5a. The usage (as in sense 1) is derived from various Biblical passages, e.g. Hos. viii. 7, Galat. vi. 7. For similar examples with mow, see mow v.1 1c.
ΚΠ
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Pref. Epist. Jerome vii. 71/1 Aggeus,..the whiche sewe in teres that he repe in ioy.
c1421 26 Pol. Poems 100 Eche dedly synne is a dedly knyf; For he shal repe þat he sewe.
c1421 26 Pol. Poems 113 Man..Makeþ moche of hym~self, sayþe al is oures, And repeth þat he neuere ne sewe.
1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 185 Quhat so euer a man saues the same sal he raipe, for quha sawes in his flesh he sal sheer corruption of the flesh.
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 iii. i. 381 From Ireland then comes Yorke againe, To reape the haruest which that Coystrill sowed.
1828 C. Lamb Char. Late Elia in Elia 2nd Ser. 226 He sowed doubtful speeches, and reaped plain, unequivocal hatred.
1878 B. Taylor Prince Deukalion ii. iii. 74 What Darkness sowed the Light shall reap.
6. figurative. To disseminate or spread; to endeavour to propagate or extend. In various contexts.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publish or spread abroad [verb (transitive)]
sowc888
blowc1275
dispeple1297
to do abroadc1300
fame1303
publyc1350
defamea1382
publisha1382
open?1387
proclaima1393
slandera1400
spreada1400
abroachc1400
throwc1400
to give outa1425
promote?a1425
noisec1425
publicc1430
noisec1440
divulgea1464
to put outc1475
skail1487
to come out witha1500
bruit1525
bruita1529
to bear out1530
divulgate1530
promulgate1530
propale?1530
ventilate1530
provulgate1535
sparple1536
sparse1536
promulge1539
disperse1548
publicate1548
forthtell1549
hurly-burly?1550
propagate1554
to set abroada1555
utter1561
to set forth1567
blaze1570
evulgate1570
scatter1576
rear?1577
to carry about1585
pervulgate1586
celebrate?1596
propalate1598
vent1602
evulge1611
to give forth1611
impublic1628
ventilate1637
disseminate1643
expose1644
emit1650
to put about1664
to send abroad1681
to get abroad1688
to take out1697
advertise1710
forward1713
to set abouta1715
circulate1780
broadcast1829
vent1832
vulgate1851
debit1879
float1883
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [verb (transitive)] > specific something immaterial
sowc888
forspreada1300
breathea1425
diffusea1425
transfusec1425
sparkle?1533
seminate1535
enlarge1553
propagate1554
disperse1576
proseminate1619
disseminate1643
infusea1672
overpass1679
to set abroad1688
vulgate1851
(a)
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxvii Se eorðlica anweald næfre ne sæwð þa cræftas, ac..gadrað unðeawas.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 155 Ure helend saweð his holie word hwile þurh his haȝen muð hwile þurh his apostles.
13.. Know Thyself 58 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 131 His grace is so wide isowe.
c1480 (a1400) SS. Simon & Jude 404 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 219 Quhen þe apostolis had al-quhare In þat land sawyne goddis lare.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Prol. f. 3v The word, that is plantit or sawin amongis ȝow.
1573 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlii. 898 Þe richt meanis..Ouir all to haue the Gospell sawin.
1607 S. Hieron Abridgem. of Gospell in Wks. (1620) I. 157 Light is sowen for the righteous, and ioy for the vpright in heart.
1839 tr. A. de Lamartine Trav. in East 72/1 Their voyage to Greece and Italy, to sow the Gospel.
(b)c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care 356 Aworpen mon..on ælce tid saweð wrohte.c1386 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋642 Þe synne of hem þat sowen and maken discord.c1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 91 Whilk amanges neghburghs discordes to sawe makes hym bisy.a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Aiiiv Measure and I wyll neuer be deuydyd For no dyscorde that any man can sawe.1562 N. Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 77 (note) The seditious personis sawis schisme and diuisioun.1581 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xliv. 83 Sathan..To rais his kingdome tentation did sau Into þe hairtis of men in all degrie.1663 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim (1687) xxxvii. 493 Let not the evil one..sow this jealousie in your heart.1720 J. Ozell et al. tr. R. A. de Vertot Hist. Revol. Rom. Republic II. xiv. 327 A Counsel which would sow Division in the contrary Party.a1770 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) I. iii. 49 Those who teach false doctrines to sew dissension amongst them.1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. xi. 76 Between the best of Peoples and the best of Restorer-Kings, they would sow grudges.1878 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. (ed. 2) III. xviii. 106 He..attempted to sow discord in his brother's Council.(c)1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cvx. 137 Also there were wordes sowen through all the towne, howe [etc.].1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. v Martin Luther.., who soweth newe opinions in Germany.a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) 30 Some ill-disposed persons..tooke occasion to sowe mutinous discourses.1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 24 He sow'd a slander in the common ear.1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold iv. i. 105 Who sow'd this fancy here among the people?(d)1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xvii. sig. Jiij The necessities, which fortune soweth among menne that be mortall.1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. i. 157 We are to Cure such sorrowes, not to sowe 'em. View more context for this quotation1823 C. Lamb in London Mag. Oct. 405/2 The antiquarian spirit..may have been sown in you among those wrecks of splendid mortality.1849 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 66 627 Can you believe..that the word of the Third Witch, ‘thou shalt be King Hereafter,’ sows the murder in Macbeth's heart?
†7. To beget (a child). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > multiply or reproduce [verb (transitive)] > beget
sowc1250
getc1300
begeta1325
engenderc1330
conceivec1350
makea1382
wina1400
fathera1425
rutc1450
tread1594
sirea1616
engraff1864
c1250 Long Life 33 in Old Eng. Misc. 158 Of fole fulþe þu art isowe, Wormes fode þu schald beo.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8048 Y ne sey..Hym þat þis child on me sew.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 3424 Þe gode childre geten of grace..whenne þei coom wel is knowe þat þei of goddes grace are sowe.
8.
a. To scatter after the manner of seed; to sprinkle, throw or spread about, in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter broadcast
shedc1000
sprengeOE
discatterc1330
shatterc1330
sowa1387
spilla1400
shadec1425
sparklec1440
scatter?c1450
distribute?c1510
sparse?1550
to cast seed1577
bescatter1859
to sow, scatter, throw, etc. broadcast1874
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 125 Abymelech..destroyed þat place..and sewe salt þerynne, for þe lond schulde na more bere fruit and corne.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 339 Also powder of erþe of þat lond i-sowe in oþer londes vseþ awey wormes.
c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 12920 Many a knyȝt was ouer-throwen, Her bodies lay thik sawen.
1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) i. viii. 11 b His child dismembred and abrode ysowe.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xi. 38 What avayleth evermore to sowe The precyous stones amonge gruntynge hogges?
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vii. x. 28 Armouris, suerdis, speris and scheildis, I sall do saw and strow our all the feyldis.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xv. 38 The Gall-bladder hath received very many small Passages, furnished with sundry little twigs, sowed up and down in the Liver.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World xii. 373 They were astonish'd to see my people so thin sown, our scanty number not making any manner of show.
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow (ed. 2) I. i. 8 With lank hair very thinly sown upon a head which [etc.].
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 60 Not sowing hedgerow texts and passing by, Nor dealing goodly counsel from a height.
b. To distribute or disperse. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [verb (transitive)]
to-spreada1000
spread?c1225
sowc1350
to-scattera1382
diffund?a1425
dilate1430
disparklec1449
diffuse?a1475
provulgate1535
disperse1576
distract1600
disseminate1603
protracta1658
unroll1813
c1350 Leg. Rood (1871) 90 And sethin als wide als þai er saun Has no iew hous of his awyn.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Zech. x. 9 Y shal sowe hem in peplis.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) iv. 685 Bot thai prophetis so thyn ar sawin, That thair in erd now nane is knawin.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Zech. x. 9 I wil sowe them amonge the people.
†9. Scottish. To shed (blood). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > wound > draw or drain of blood
yeteOE
spilla1125
shed?c1225
outbleedc1475
dispill1522
sow1535
broach1573
exsanguinate1849
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 303 Wemen..sall nocht..draw abak quhair mekill blude is sawin.

Derivatives

sowed adj. /səʊd/
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > [adjective] > sown
sown1578
sowed1733
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 205 This Mischief happens oftner to the latter sowed Wheat.
ˈsowing adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > [adjective]
sowingc1384
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xiii. 18 Therfore heere ȝe the parable of the sowynge man.
1876 G. Meredith Beauchamp's Career II. x. 180 Moveless do they seem to you? Why, so is the earth to the sowing husbandman.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

sowv.2

Forms: Also Middle English sowe, 1700s–1800s dialect soo, 1800s soue.
Etymology: Of obscure origin.
northern and Scottish.
1. transitive. To affect (a person) with pain; to pain or grieve sorely. Usually with sore.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)]
heavyc897
pineeOE
aileOE
sorryeOE
traya1000
sorrowOE
to work (also do) (a person) woeOE
angerc1175
smarta1200
to work, bake, brew balec1200
derve?c1225
grieve?c1225
sitc1225
sweam?c1225
gnawc1230
sughc1230
troublec1230
aggrievea1325
to think sweama1325
unframea1325
anguish1340
teen1340
sowa1352
distrainc1374
to-troublea1382
strain1382
unglad1390
afflicta1393
paina1393
distressa1400
hita1400
sorea1400
assayc1400
remordc1400
temptc1400
to sit (or set) one sorec1420
overthrow?a1425
visit1424
labour1437
passionc1470
arraya1500
constraina1500
misgrievea1500
attempt1525
exagitate1532
to wring to the worse1542
toil1549
lament1580
adolorate1598
rankle1659
try1702
to pass over ——1790
upset1805
to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823
to put (a person) through it1855
bludgeon1888
to get to ——1904
to put through the hoop(s)1919
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > affect with type of pain [verb (transitive)] > affect with anguish or torment
tintreghec1175
torment1297
raimc1300
pinse?c1335
grindc1350
sowa1352
pang1520
rack1562
torture1598
throea1616
pincer1620
excruciate1623
thumbscrew1771
a1352 L. Minot Poems (1914) v. 12 When he sailed in þe Swin it sowed him sare.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6568 Mikel i haf trauaild for yow..þat suilk a godd all honurs now, þat will yow her-after sare sow.
a1400–50 Alexander 2313 And þai said, soure suld him sowe bot he þe cite ȝeld.
c1480 (a1400) St. Vincent 292 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 267 Thinkand he mycht na payne mare do til hyme to sow hyme sare.
2. intransitive. To be painful; to thrill or tingle with pain or exertion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > suffer or cause type of pain [verb (intransitive)] > prick or tingle > suffer pricking or tingling
tinklea1382
tinglea1425
sowc1425
dindle1483
pricklea1661
prinkle1721
prick1850
pringle1889
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. 6224 Qwhen he a qwhile had prekyt þar, And sum of þaim he gert sow sare.
1438 tr. Bk. Alexander Great (1831) (Bann) 87 The sydis of sum may sowe full sair.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 258 Thair scharp schutting maid sydis for till sow.
a1586 in J. Pinkerton Anc. Sc. Poems (1786) 201 Scho gars me murne,..And with sair straiks scho gars me sow.
1885 F. Gordon Pyotshaw 297 If that bit race hisna set my lugs a' sooin'.
3. absol. To produce a tingling sensation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > suffer or cause type of pain [verb (intransitive)] > prick or tingle
prickOE
sow1796
mirr1866
tingle1872
1796 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. (ed. 2) II. 346 To Soo, to pain the hand, in striking with a hammer or beetle: to jar.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby It soues up my arm.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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