Jump to content

sow

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: SOW, Sow, sów, and šow

Translingual

[edit]

Symbol

[edit]

sow

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Sowanda.

See also

[edit]

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology 1

[edit]

    From Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-West Germanic *sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *su(H)kéh₂, from *suH- (“pig”).

    See also West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, German Sau, Swedish sugga, Norwegian sugge; also Welsh hwch (“pig”), Sanskrit सूकर (sūkará, “swine, boar”); also Danish so, German Sau, Latin sūs, Tocharian B suwo, Ancient Greek ὗς (hûs), Albanian thi, Avestan 𐬵𐬏 (hū, “boar”). See also swine. Doublet of soor.

    Alternative forms

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]
    A sow with her young.

    sow (plural sows or (archaic) swine)

    1. A female pig.
    2. A female bear, she-bear.
      • 1995, Dana Stabenow, Play with Fire, →ISBN, page 11:
        Lucky he wasn't a sow. They've usually just dropped a cub this time of year. A sow would have been cranky as hell.
    3. A female guinea pig.
    4. A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
    5. A mass of metal solidified in a mold.
      • 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 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.
    6. (derogatory, slang) A contemptible, often fat woman.
    7. A sowbug.
    8. (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.
    Synonyms
    [edit]
    • (mass of metal solidified in a mold): ingot
    • (contemptible woman): bitch, cow
    Derived terms
    [edit]
    Translations
    [edit]
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    See also

    [edit]

    Etymology 2

    [edit]

      From Middle English sowen, from Old English sāwan, from Proto-West Germanic *sāan, from Proto-Germanic *sēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-. Compare Dutch zaaien, German säen, Danish så, Norwegian Bokmål så.

      Pronunciation

      [edit]

      Verb

      [edit]

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

      1. (ambitransitive) To scatter, disperse, or plant (seeds).
        When I had sown the field, the day's work was over.
      2. (figurative) To spread abroad; to propagate. (usu. negative connotation)
        As you sow, so shall you reap.
        • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 4:8:
          Euen as I haue seene, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickednsse, reape the same.
        • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 6:
          And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
        • 1963 June, G. Freeman Allen, “The success of diesel-hydraulics on the German Federal Railway”, in Modern Railways, page 386:
          Not surprisingly, it has sown doubt among other operators of diesel-hydraulics; […] .
        • 2024 January 25, Marin Scotten, “‘Laying claim to nature’s work’: plant patents sow fear among small growers”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
          ‘Laying claim to nature’s work’: plant patents sow fear among small growers [title]
      3. (figurative) To scatter over; to besprinkle.
        • a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC:
          The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, […] and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles.
        • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
          [He] sowd with Starrs the heav'n.
      4. Obsolete spelling of sew.
      Derived terms
      [edit]
      Translations
      [edit]

      Anagrams

      [edit]

      Middle English

      [edit]

      Etymology 1

      [edit]

      Noun

      [edit]

      sow

      1. alternative form of sowe

      Etymology 2

      [edit]

      Verb

      [edit]

      sow

      1. alternative form of sowen (“to torment”)
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=sow&oldid=88223833"