sow

Wikipedia

English

Etymology 1

Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō (compare West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, Swedish sugga), from Proto-Indo-European *suh₂kéh₂ (compare Welsh hwch ‘pig’, Sanskrit सूकर (sūkará, “swine, boar”)), from *suh₂- ‘pig’ (compare German Sau, Latin sūs, Tocharian B suwo, Ancient Greek ὗς (hỹs), Albanian thi, Avestan hū ‘boar’).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /saʊ/, SAMPA: /saU/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: sough

Noun

A sow with her young.

sow (plural sows or swine)

1. A female pig.
2. A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
3. A mass of metal solidified in a mold.
   • 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, p. 160:

     In England, it was generally termed a 'sow', if the weight was above 10 cwts., if below, it was termed a 'pig' from which the present term 'pig iron' is derived.

4. (derogatory, slang) A contemptible woman.

Usage notes

The plural form swine is now obsolete in this sense.

Synonyms

• (mass of metal solidified in a mold): ingot
• (contemptible woman): bitch, cow

Derived terms

• make a silk purse of a sow's ear

Translations

female pig

Chinese: 母猪 (mǔzhū) Czech: svině (cs) f. Danish: so (da) c. Dutch: zeug (nl) f. Esperanto: porkino (eo) Finnish: emakko (fi), emäsika (fi) French: truie (fr) f. German: Sau (de) f. Hungarian: koca (hu) Irish: cráin (ga) f. Italian: scrofa (it) f., troia (it) Korean: 암돼지 (ko) (amdwaeji) Latin: scrōfa (la) f., porca (la) f.

Macedonian: маторица (mk) (matórica) f. Old English: sū (ang), sugu (ang) Polish: locha (pl) f., maciora (pl) f. Portuguese: porca (pt) f. Romanian: scroafă (ro), purcea (ro), (pop) poarcă (ro) Russian: свинья (ru) (svin’já) f. Serbian: krmača f., prasica f. Spanish: cerda (es), puerca (es) Swedish: so (sv) c., sugga (sv) c. Turkmen: mekejin (tk) Ukrainian: свиня (uk) (svynjá) f., льоха (uk) (l'óxa) f. Venetian: lùja Volapük: jisvin (vo)

channel that conducts molten metal to molds

Finnish: valukouru (fi)

Swedish: gjut (sv) n., gjutså (sv) c., ingjut (sv) n., ingjutningskanal (sv) c.

mass of metal solidified in a mold

Finnish: valos (fi)

Swedish: galt (sv) c., göt (sv) c., tacka (sv) c.

contemptible woman

Finnish: narttu (fi), huora (fi) Russian: скотина (ru) (skotína) m. and f.

Swedish: subba (sv) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Lithuanian: kiaulė f. Persian: ماده‌خوک (madde-xuk)

See also

• boar
• hog
• pig

Etymology 2

Old English sāwan.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /səʊ/, SAMPA: /s@U/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: sew, so

Verb

sow (third-person singular simple present sows or archaic soweth, present participle sowing, simple past sowed, past participle sown)

1. (transitive) To scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).

   I needed to sow the field, so I sowed the field and when I had sown the field, I was happy.

Synonyms

• plant, scatter

Derived terms

• reap what one sows
• sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

Translations

disperse seeds

Arabic: زرع (záraʕa) Breton: hadañ (br) Chinese: 播種, 簸重 (bòzhòng), 播种 (bōzhòng) Czech: sít (cs) Dutch: zaaien (nl) Finnish: kylvää (fi) French: semer (fr) German: säen (de) Greek: σπείρειν (el) (speirein) Hungarian: vet (hu) Ilocano: takong Irish: cuir (ga) Italian: seminare (it) Japanese: 種をまく (たねをまく, táne o máku) Korean: 심다 (simda), 뿌리다 (ppurida) Luxembourgish: séien (lb)

Norwegian: så (no) Occitan: semenar (oc) Old Church Slavonic: сѣти (sěti) Old English: sāwan (ang) Polish: siać (pl) impf. Portuguese: semear (pt) Romanian: semăna (ro) Russian: сеять (ru) (séjat’) Scots: sawe (sco) Scottish Gaelic: sìol Spanish: sembrar (es) Swedish: så (sv) Telugu: విత్తు (vittu) Vietnamese: gieo Welsh: hadu (cy)

Anagrams

• OSW