sow

English

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA: /saʊ/, X-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.
5. A sowbug.
6. (military) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, etc.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Craig to this entry?)

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

• Aromanian: poarcã (rup) f
• Catalan: truja (ca) f, porca (ca) f, verra (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 母豬 (cmn), 母猪 (cmn) (mǔzhū)

• Czech: svině (cs) f, prasnice (cs)
• Danish: so (da) c
• Dutch: zeug (nl) f
• Esperanto: porkino (eo)
• Faroese: súgv (fo) f
• Finnish: emakko (fi), emäsika (fi)
• French: truie (fr) f
• Friulian: scrove f
• Georgian: ნეზვი (ka) (nezvi), ქუბი (ka) (k'ubi)
• German: Sau (de) f, Mutterschwein (de) n
• Hungarian: koca (hu)
• Icelandic: sýr (is) f
• Ido: (♂♀) porko (io), (♂) porkulo (io), (♀) porkino (io)
• Irish: cráin (ga) f
• Italian: scrofa (it) f, troia (it)
• Japanese: 雌豚 (ja) (めぶた, mebuta)
• Korean: 암퇘지 (ko) (amtwaeji)
• Latin: scrōfa (la) f, porca (la) f
• Lithuanian: kiaulė (lt) f
• Macedonian: маторица (mk) (matórica) f, прасица (mk) (prásica) f
• Malay: khinzir betina (ms)
• Middle High German: sū f

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: purke (no) f and m, sugge (no) f and m, hunngris (no) m, hunnsvin (no) n

  Nynorsk: purke (nn) f, purka (nn) f (by-form), sugge (nn) f, hogris (nn) m, hosvin (nn) n

• Occitan: truèja (oc) f, pòrca (oc) f
• Old English: sū (ang) f, sugu (ang) f
• Old High German: sū f
• Old Norse: sýr f
• Old Saxon: sū f
• Persian: ماده خوک بالغ (fa)
• Polish: locha (pl) f, maciora (pl) f
• Portuguese: porca (pt) f
• Romanian: scroafă (ro), purcea (ro), (pop) poarcă (ro)
• Russian: свинья (ru) (svinʹjá) f, свиноматка (ru) (svinomátka) f
• Sardinian: cópia (sc) f, màdri (sc) f, súe (sc) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: крмача (sh) f, прасица (sh) f

  Roman: krmača (sh) f, prasica (sh) f

• Sicilian: porca (scn) f, troja (scn) f, scrofa (scn) f
• Slovak: sviňa (sk) f
• Spanish: cerda (es) f, puerca (es) f
• Swedish: so (sv) c, sugga (sv) c
• Turkmen: mekejin (tk)
• Ukrainian: свиня (uk) (svynjá) f, льоха (uk) (l'óxa) f
• Venetian: lùja
• Volapük: (♂♀) svin (vo), (♂) hisvin (vo), (♀) 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

• Czech: kráva (cs)
• Finnish: narttu (fi), huora (fi)
• Macedonian: крава (mk) (kráva) f

• 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, from Proto-Germanic *sēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /səʊ/, X-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.

   As you sow, so shall you reap.

Synonyms

• plant, scatter

Derived terms

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

Translations

disperse seeds

• Arabic: زرع (ar) (záraʿa)
• Aromanian: seamin (rup)
• Asturian: semar (ast), sementar (ast)
• Belarusian: сеяць (be) (séjacʹ)
• Breton: hadañ (br)
• Bulgarian: сея (bg) (séja)
• Catalan: sembrar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 播種 (cmn), 播种 (cmn) (bōzhòng, bōzhǒng)

• Czech: sít (cs)
• Dutch: zaaien (nl)
• Finnish: kylvää (fi)
• French: semer (fr)
• Friulian: semenâ
• Galician: sementar (gl)
• Georgian: თესვა (ka) (t'esva)
• German: säen (de)
• Greek: σπείρειν (el) (speirein)
• Guernésiais: s'maïr
• Hungarian: vet (hu)
• Ilocano: takong
• Irish: cuir (ga)

  Old Irish: sílraigid

• Italian: seminare (it)
• Japanese: 種をまく (たねをまく, tane o maku)
• Jèrriais: s'mer, s'menchi
• Korean: 심다 (ko) (simda), 뿌리다 (ko) (ppurida)
• Latvian: sēt (lv)

• Lithuanian: sėti (lt)
• Luxembourgish: séien (lb)
• Macedonian: сее (mk) (sée)
• Norwegian: så (no)
• Occitan: semenar (oc)
• Old Church Slavonic: сѣти (sěti)
• Old English: sāwan (ang)
• Polish: siać (pl) impf.
• Portuguese: semear (pt)
• Quechua: tarpuy (qu)
• Romanian: semăna (ro)
• Romansch: semnar (rm), samnar (rm), samner (rm)
• Russian: сеять (ru) (séjatʹ) impf.
• Sardinian: semenai (sc), semenare (sc), seminai (sc)
• Scots: sawe
• Scottish Gaelic: sìol
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сејати (sh)

  Roman: sejati (sh)

• Slovak: siať (sk)
• Slovene: sejati (sl)
• Spanish: sembrar (es)
• Swedish: så (sv)
• Telugu: విత్తు (vittu)
• Ukrainian: сіяти (uk) (síjaty)
• Vietnamese: gieo
• Welsh: hadu (cy)

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