▪ I. sow, n.1
(saʊ)
Forms: α. 1 suᵹu, suᵹa, 3 suȝe-, 4 zoȝe, 5 sogh(e, sowhe, 5, 7, 9 sough. β. 2 suwa, 3 suwe, 3–4 souwe, 4–6 soowe, 4–7 sowe, 4– sow, 6, 9 Sc. sou. γ. north. dial. 5–7, 9 sew. δ. 6, 9 dial. soo.
[OE. suᵹu, = WFris. sûch, NFris. sögg, su, MDu. soge, seuge (Du. zeug) and soch, such (Du. zog), MLG. soge, suge (LG. soge), related to OHG. and MHG. sû (G. sau) and ON. s{yacu}-r (acc. s{uacu}; MSw., Sw., and Da. so), also L. sūs, Gr. ὗς, Zend hu. The stem su-, of doubtful origin, also appears in swine.]
1. a. The female of swine; an adult or full-grown female pig, esp. a domestic one used for breeding.
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S 172 Scroffa, suᵹu. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. liv. 419 Sio suᵹu hi wille sylian on hire sole æfterðæmðe hio aðwæᵹen bið. 1340 Ayenb. 61 Hy byeþ anlicned to þe zoȝe huanne hi heþ yuarȝed. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 13358, I logge..As a sowhe, in donge and clay. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xii. 274 And it were for a sogh Ther is drynk enogh. |
| β c 1150 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 543 Scroffa, suwa. a 1225 Ancr. R. 204 Þe Suwe of ȝiuernesse, þet is, Glutunie, haueð pigges þus inemned. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 62 A-mong alle bestes..A-corsed þou beo, luþere souwe. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 731 Sengler, troie, et suel, Bor, sowe, and gilte. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. iii. (1868) 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. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 43 In the pathe he saw a gret blacke swyne and a sowe. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §121 Let them be bores and sowes all, and no hogges. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 74 Good faring sow holds profit with cow. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 64 Powre in Sowes blood, that hath eaten Her nine Farrow. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 117 The large sided sow is best. 1764 Museum Rust. I. 476 When I have a parcel of young pigs in winter, I find these sows will fat them better. 1820 Shelley Œd. Tyr. ii. i. 36 The lean Sows and Boars collect about her. 1847 Tennyson Princ. i. 191 All the swine were sows. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. xxi. 183 A tough old sow, and the mother thereon, Then follow the witches every one. |
| γ c 1440 Alph. Tales 187 On a tyme þer was a man þat stale his neghbur sew. 1557 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 101 Hoggs, v sewes and one boore. 1684 [cf. sense 2]. 1807 R. Anderson Cumbld. Ball. (c 1850) 151 Twee braid-backt tips, and a bonny sew. 1883 Almondbury Gloss., Sew, Soo, or Seoo, a sow. |
| δ 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 35 Geue him the milke of a Soo. 1883 [see γ]. |
† b. my sow's pigged, a former card-game. Obs.
Some other dial. uses are given in the Eng. Dial. Dict.
| 1621 J. Taylor (Water P.) 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's Almanack 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 Almondbury Gloss. 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.
| 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 321 Insensuat sow, cesse fals Eustase air! a 1585 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 743 Sweir sow, doyld kow, ay fow, foull fall thy banes! 1630 Cosin's Corresp. (Surtees) I. 174 You tore her sleeve, with these reprochfull words, ‘Can ye not stand, ye lazie sowes?’ 1684 Yorks. Dial. 13 (E.D.S.), Ise ding thy Harnes out, thou base mucky Sew. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Sow,..a term of Reproach given many times to a fat, lazy, rank, big breasted Woman. 1725 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. (1878) I. 387 The Wife [has been called] Sow, Fool, dirty Drab. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Sow, a fat woman. 1803 Boswell Songs 5 Ye're a sow, auld man, Ye get fou, auld man. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., 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.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 75 Ye may see, ye tooke The wrong way to wood, and the wrong sow by theare. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 2034/1, I perceiue..that that man hath the sow by the right eare. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wit & Mirth Wks. II. 180/2, I knew when he first medled with your Ladyship, that hee had a wrong Sow by the eare. 1697 Vanbrugh æsop ii, 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. II. 463 Crabshaw..told her he believed she had got the right sow by the ear. 1841 Hood T. of Trumpet 681 The sow that ought By the ear is caught—And the sin to the sinful door is brought. 1852 De Quincey Schlosser's Lit. Hist. Wks. 1858 VIII. 60 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. 6 and still a.
| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 24 Littell knoweth the fat sow, what the leane dooth meane. Ibid. 32 What should we (quoth I) grease the fat sow in thars. 1562 ― Prov. & Epigr. 64 God haue mercy hors, a pyg of mine owne sow. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest Pref., 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 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 523 In Latin they say Sus Minervam, when an unlearned dunce goeth about to teach his better or a more learned man,..or as we say in English, the foul Sow teach the fair Lady to spin. |
c. In comparative phrases, esp. as drunk as David's sow or as a sow (cf. quots.).
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 43 As meete as a sowe to beare a saddle. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon (1630) E iv b, I am as seruiceable at a table, as a Sow is vnder an Apple tree. 1727 Gay New Song of New Similes ii, For, though as drunk as David's sow, I love her still the better. 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 39 A man is said to be..when he cannot see, ‘as drunk as a sow’. 1877 E. Peacock N.W. Linc. Gloss. 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. Ibid., ‘As drunk as David's sow’ is a simile conveying the idea of the deepest state of intoxication. |
4. a. Mil. 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 Hist.
| [c 1125 William of Malmesbury De Gestis Reg. iv. (Rolls) II. 426 Unum fuit machinamentum quod nostri suem, veteres vineam vocant; quod machina..protegit in se subsidentes, qui, quasi more suis, ad murorum suffodienda penetrant fundamenta.] |
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8480 A gyn þat me sowe clupeþ hii made ek wel strong, Muche folc inne vor to be boþe wid & long. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 597 Of gret gestis ane sow thai maid, That stalward heling owth it had, With armyt men enew thar-in. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. 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. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. 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 Art of Survey i. xiii. 45 Engines..Militarie; as Battering-Rams, Sowes, Horses, Tortuses. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. 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 Motteux Rabelais iv. xl. (1737) 159 The Engineers..fitted up the great Sow. 1788 Grose Milit. 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. 1828–43 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 137 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 Kingsley Herew. xxviii, 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. |
b. U.S. ‘A movable shed used as a protection by miners’ (1895 Funk's Stand. Dict.).
5. a. A wood-louse or sow-bug. Now chiefly dial.
| 14.. in Rel. Antiq. I. 204 Geve hym of these sowes that crepe with many fete, and falle oute of howce rovys. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 23 b, Then take twelue or fiftene of these litle beastes called Monkes peason or sowes. 1572 L. Mascall Planting & Graffing 50 There be little beastes called Sowes, which haue many legs. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme i. viii. 39 If wals be full of sowes and such other like vermine. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 50 Asellus, the Tylers Lowse, or, Sow. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Ulcer, For Ulcers.., Take Millepedes, call'd by some in English Wood-Lice, and by others Sows. a 1825– in dial. glossaries (E. Anglia, Linc., Leic., Northants, Nottingham, etc.). 1877 F. P. Pascoe Zool. Class. 62 Some of the Oniscidæ are land animals, and are known as hog-lice, sows, &c. |
b. sea-sow: see sea n. 23 d.
6. techn. A large oblong mass of solidified metal as obtained from the blast- or smelting-furnace: a. Of lead. Now Obs. or rare.
So MDu. soge in a document of 1445.
| 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. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 72 With clothes vpon her hed That wey a sowe of led. 1546 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 182 For meltyng of the leade.., and castyng into sowes. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 611 Twenty sowes of lead long in forme, but foure square. 1668 Phil. Trans. III. 770 It is cast into Sand, and runs into those Sowes (as they call them) which they sell. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 260/2 A Pig or Sow of Lead, is generally about three hundred pounds apiece. 1700 J. Brome Trav. i. (1707) 34 The [Lead] Ore..being..afterwards melted down into Pigs and Sows, as they are there call'd. |
b. Of iron. (See note to pig n.1 7 and quots.)
| 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 (1854) 113 The second kind of Metallar is the Sowe of iron. 1645–52 Boate Ireland's Nat. Hist. (1860) 113 The molten Iron..turning into a hard and stiff mass, which masses are called Sowes by the work⁓men. 1676 Hobbes Iliad xxiii. 817 And then of Iron he brought out a Sough Such as at first it from the Fornace came. a 1744 Lucas in Trans. Cumb. & Westm. Archaeol. Soc. (N.S.) VIII. 38 They break the Sow and Pigs off from one another, and the Sow into the same Lengths with the Piggs. 1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 408 (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 Obs.
| 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) p. v, By fire to trie out the Metall and to cast it into certeine rude lumps, which they call Sowze. 1590 Webbe Trav. (Arb.) 23 A place..where they had great store of Treasure and Sowes of Silver. a 1656 Ussher Ann. (1658) 225 Diodorus reckons upward of 400 thousand talents of silver, and gold in sowes and wedges. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. ii. App. (1852) 172 Upon further diving the Indian fetcht up a sow, as they stiled it, or a lump of silver. |
d. fig. or in fig. context.
| 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 474 If any man shall like to take this mettall, drawen by me out of a fewe Sowes into many sheetes. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 293 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.).
| 1843 Holtzapffel Turning 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.)
| 1871 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Eng. I. 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. Sc. and north. A large oblong-shaped rick or stack, esp. of hay.
| 1659 A. Hay Diary (S.H.S.) 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 in Coltness Collect. (Maitl. Club) 166 Severall great sows of hay were on the cannall..; it looked very odd to see a hay sow, perhaps fifty or sixty foot long,..sailing along. 1799 J. Robertson 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 Lack of Gold viii, Behind was the farm-yard, and well-stocked with fat stacks of grain and hay ‘sows’. |
8. attrib. and Comb. (chiefly in sense 1), as sowcunt (coarse nonce-wd.), sow-feeder, sow-hair, sow-herd, sow-pap, sow-skin, sow-sticking, sow-tail, sow-teat, etc.; sow-dugged adj.; sow-like adv.; sow-belly U.S. slang, (salted) side of pork; sow-drunk a. (see sense 3 c); † sow-guard = sense 4; sow-libber Sc., a sow-gelder; sow-louse, a wood-louse, sow-bug (now dial.). See also sow-gelder, -iron, -metal.
| 1867 W. L. Goss Soldier's Story of his Captivity 205 My captor presented to me a generous slice of ‘*sow-belly’. 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. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 541 (Her *sowcunt barks.) Fohracht! |
| 1509 Barclay Shyp Folys (1570) 33 Some *sowe dronke, swalowing meate without measure, Some maudlayne dronke, mourning loudly and hye. 1522 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 82/2 Yet shal ye find mo y{supt} drink themself sow drunk of pride to be called good felowes, than for luste of the drink self. 1880 Tennyson Northern Cobbler iv, Soa sow⁓droonk that tha doesn not touch thy 'at to the Squire. |
| 1960 Auden Homage to Clio 55 Steatopygous, *sow-dugged and owl-headed. |
| 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. (Suppl.) 37/2 Such an arrangement with individual *sow-feeders, allows for better attention to each sow. |
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 58 They clinge thee scalinges too wals, and vnder a *sowgard They clymb. |
| 1597 Deloney Gentle Craft i. iv, The Aule steele and tackes, the *Sow⁓haires beside. |
| 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Scrofipascus,.. a *sow hearde. |
| a 1682 Sempill Blythsome Wedding 22 There will be *Sow-libber Peatie. |
| 1603 J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 65/1 For, to dismount from true loue's loftie pitch..Is, *Sow-like, to lie mired in the ditch Of lowest Hell. |
| 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 932 Flyes, Gnats, *Sowlice, Fleas, that do much hurt and do no good. 1866 J. E. Brogden Prov. Lincs., Sow-louse, the wood-louse. |
| c 1440 Alph. Tales 437 Þan he garte caste it emang swyne at þai mott devowr it; and þer it was nurisshid on a *sew papp. |
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 20 If Tinkers may haue leaue to liue, and beare the *Sow-skin Bowget. 1823 Spirit Public Jrnls. 459 He instantly crammed it back again into the sow-skin purse from which he had taken it. |
| 1883 Longman's Mag. Apr. 649 At the *sow-sticking..the neighbours lend helping hands. |
| 1787 Burns Halloween iv, A runt was like a *sow-tail, Sae bow't that night. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal (1673) 216 Trypherus the learned, who Carves large *sow-teats. |
b. In plant-names, as † sowbane, goosefoot (Chenopodium); † sow-fennel, sulphur-wort; sow-tit, the wood-strawberry; sow-wort = sow-bread. See also sow-thistle.
Some others are current in dialects or U.S.
| 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cccix. 577 Goose-foot or *Sowbane. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 271 Red Goosefoot. Sowbane. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 298 It is called..in Englishe also Peucedanum, Horestrong,..*Sowe fenill, and of some Sulphurwurt. 1611 Cotgr., Fenouil de porceau, Sow-fennell, Hogs-fennell. |
| 1788 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (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. |
| 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 708 M. Saladin found in the root of the Cyclamen Europeum, or *sow wort, a peculiar bitter principle. |
c. With the names of animals, etc., in the sense of ‘female’, as sow beaver, sow-cat (also transf.), † sow-child, sow grizzly bear, sow-hog, sow-swine ; sow-wasp dial., a queen wasp. See also sow-pig.
| 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. |
| 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 592 A Chat Pard (supposed to be engendred by a Leopard and a *Sow-catt). 1689 N. Lee Princ. Cleves iii. i, St. A. For there's two ravenous Sow-Cats will Eat you. El. Your Wives you mean. 1875 Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. 108 I'll give that old sow-cat o' yourn a sock aside the head. |
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Sow-child, a Female Child. |
| 1976 Telegraph-Journal (St. John, New Brunswick) 12 Aug. 12/4 A *sow grizzly bear that..mauled him..was only trying to protect her young. |
| 1648 Hexham ii, Een Zoch, a *Sowe-hogge. |
| 1822 Shelley Faust ii. 154 Upon a *sow⁓swine, whose farrows were nine, Old Baubo rideth alone. |
| 1875 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. |
d. Genitival combs., as sow's-baby slang and Cant (see quots.); sow's-back local (see quot. 1789); † sow's bread = sow-bread; † sow's thistle = sow-thistle.
| a 1400 Stockholm Med. MS. fol. 198 Sowesthystyl, labrum. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secrets (1562) 13 Take an herbe called..in Englishe sowes breade. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Sow's baby, a Pig. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Sow's baby, a sucking pig. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. 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. 1859 Slang Dict. 98 Sow's baby,..sixpence. |
▪ II. sow, n.2 Now dial.
(saʊ)
Also sowe (9 dial. sou, saa).
[app. distinct from sough n.2, and perh. identical with Flem. dial. zou († souwe, soeuwe in Plantin and Kilian) drain.]
A drain; a channel or run of water.
| 1316 in Rep. MSS. Ld. Middleton (1911) 88 Predicti Adam et socii sui gutturam, que dicitur ‘le sowe’,..reparabunt. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 359 A kind of ocre..falls to the bottom of the chanels of all..mineral springs, whether sowes or others. 1670 ― Hydrol. Ess. 133 All spaws, whether vitrioline from sowes or aluminous. 1709 Thoresby Diary (1830) II. 50 Both days entirely spent with labourers, directing and overseering the sows to drain water. c 1800 Stagg Bridewain ix. Misc. Poems (1808) 5 Owr hill an' knowe, thro' seugh an' sowe, Comes tiftan many o' couple. 1824– in Yorkshire and Cumberld. glossaries. |
▪ III. sow, n.3 rare.
In 4 sau, saw.
[f. sow v.1]
An act of sowing.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6378 He þam ledd..And fand þam fode in þair nede, Wit-vten ani sau [v.r. saw] o sede. |
▪ IV. sow, n.4 Obs. exc. dial.
(saʊ)
Also 4 sowe.
[Of obscure origin.]
A blow or stroke.
| a 1400 Sir Eglamour 317 Syr Egyllamowre hys swerde owt drowe, And to the yeant he gafe a sowe, And blyndyd hym in that tyde. 1869– in dial. glossaries (Cheshire, Lanc., and Westmld.). |
▪ V. sow, n.5 Sc. rare.
[Of obscure origin.]
1. A bride's outfit of clothes; a trousseau.
| 168. in Morison Decis. Crt. Sess. 10436 Andrew Littlejohn pursues the Duchess of Monmouth her curator for payment of a taylor's account taken off by the Duchess for her marriage sow. 1887 Jamieson's Suppl. Add., 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.
| 1763 ‘Insulanus’ 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. |
▪ VI. † sow
obs. variant of or error for sole n.3 2.
| 1688 Holme Armoury ii. 173/2 The Sow, is the Yoke, which is put about the Cow or Ox-Neck to tye him to the Boosey. Ibid. iii. 327/2. |
▪ VII. sow
obs. variant of soe, tub.
▪ VIII. sow, v.1
(səʊ)
Pa. tense sowed, pa. pple. sowed, sown. Forms: (see below).
[Common Teut., but presenting considerable variation in form, and changes of conjugation; the chief forms are OE. sáwan, OFris. *siâ (NFris. sîn, se, EFris. sâi), MDu. saeyen, zaeyen (Du. zaaien), OS. sâian (MLG. seien, seigen, segen, LG. seien, saien), OHG. sâjan, sâhen, sâen (MHG. sæjen, sæhen, sæn, G. säen) and sâwen (MHG. sæwen, sêwen), ON. and Icel. sá (Norw. and Da. saa, Sw. så), Goth. saian. The Teut. root *sǣ- (cf. seed n.) has counterparts in Lith. séti, OSlav. sejati, L. serĕre (perf. sēvi) to sow, and perh. in Gr. ἵηµι.
The original reduplicating conjugation is retained in the Goth. pa. tense saisō, ON. pa. tense sera, pa. pple. sáinn (MSw. sāin), OE. pa. tense séow, pa. pple. ᵹesáwen, OS. pa. tense sêu (once), OFris. pa. pple. esên. Transference to the weak conjugation has taken place in all the continental languages (as OHG. sâta, OS. sâida, late ON. sáða); in English the pa. tense has become weak, the pa. pple. still commonly retains the strong form.]
A. Illustration of forms.
1. inf. (and pres. stem). (α) 1–2 sawan (2 sæwæn), 2–3 sawen (sewen), 4 zawen; 2, 4–6 sawe, 4, 6 Sc. sau, 5– Sc. (and north.) saw (5 Sc. say); also 5 Sc. schau, schaw(e.
| c 825– [see examples in B]. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 147 Hie hiden wepende and sewende. a 1300 Cursor M. 6839 Your land yee sal sau seuen yeir. 1340 Ayenb. 214 Huo þanne ssolde erye and zawe. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 906 Prechand & sawand godis sed. Ibid. xl. (Ninian) 133 To schau his seiyde. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxii. 147 Þe folk.. sawez na land. c 1440 Registr. Aberdon. (Maitl. Cl.) I. 250 Alsmekill land as a celdr of atis will schawe. c 1480 Henryson Aganis Haisty Credence 41 O wicket tung, sawand dissentioun. 1570 Levins Manip. 45 To Sawe corne, seminare. 1581 J. Hamilton Cath. Traict. in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 74 To sau..pernicious heresie. c 1639 Sir W. Mure Ps. cvii. 37 The feilds they saw. 1785 Burns Halloween xviii, Hemp-seed I saw thee. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, They..might be for sawing the craft wi' aits. |
(β) 3–4 sowen (3 souin), 4 souwen, 5 sowyn; 3–7 sowe, 4 soghe, 6 soue, 6– sow (8 sew).
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 155 To sowen þe holie sed. a 1250 Prov. ælfred in O.E. Misc. 108 His sedes to sowen [v.r. souin]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10259 Ne þat bailif..ne soffrede hom nower come, To sowe. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 67 In þat cete my saȝes soghe alle aboute. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 59, I wol souwen hit my-self. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xiii. 3 He that sowith, goth out to sowe his seed. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 466/1 Sowyn corne or oþer sedys, semino, sero. 1530 Palsgr. 725/2, I sowe corne. 1532 Galway Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 405 Whatsoever man..shall..soue any varyaunce. 1635 R. N. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. 21 To sow Religion. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 2 When to sowe the Corn. |
2. pa. tense. a. strong. 1–2 seow (1 seawu), 1, 3–7, 8 dial. sew (3 siew, 5 seew), 4–5, 7 sewe (9 Sc. shewe), 3–4 seuȝ (4 seeuȝh, segh), 3–4, 6 seu, 4 sue; pl. 1 seowun, -on, -an, sewon, 3 seowen, sowen, 3–5 sewen; 3 seowe, sew, 4–7 sewe.
| c 825 [see B. 2]. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 39 Ðe fiond,..seðe sawes vel seawu, ða is diowl. 971 Blickl. Hom. 3 Se Halᵹa Gast seow þæt clæne sæd. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 133 A riche mon ferde ut and seow. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 151 [He] siew þo on wowe. Ibid., Þe sed þat he sew. c 1250 Hymn Ibid. 256 Þe holi gost hire on þe seuȝ. c 1275 Moral Ode 23 in O.E. Misc. 59 Hwenne alle men repen schule þat heo ear seowe. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8048 Hym þat þis child on me sew. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 259 God repiþ many þingis þat he sue not. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxiv. (1869) 43 She brouhte the greyn..and seew it. 1513 Douglas æneid xii. ix. 47 His fader eyrit and sew ane peice of feild. 1565 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 244 Because I seu no winter corne ther. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 56 Wee sewe nothing but onely our In-field. a 1800 Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. (1803) 105, I sew..my corn. |
b. weak. (α) 4 sceued, 4, 9 Sc. sawed, 4 sawit.
| [c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 25 Ofer-ᵹeseawu vel ᵹeseawde. ― Luke xix. 21 Þæt ðu ne ᵹesaudesd.] a 1300 Cursor M. 21226 O godds word he sceued þe sede. c 1375 Ibid. 12323 (Fairf.), Þe quete..at ihesus sawed. 1820 Scott Monast. xiii, About the last barley ye sawed. |
(β) 4 sowid(e, 6– sowed, 7 sowd.
| 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxvi. 12 Isaac forsothe sowide in that loond. 1535 Coverdale Deut. xi. 10 Where thou sowedest thy sede. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 91 The Arrians..sowed abroade their opinions. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 358 He..sowd with Starrs the Heav'n. |
3. pa. pple. a. strong. (α) 1 ᵹesauen, ᵹi-, 1–2 ᵹesawen, 4 y-zawe; 1, 4–6 sawen, 3 sauen (saȝin), 4 sau(u)n, 4, 6 Sc. sawin, 5 Sc. sawyn(e, -ing, 5, 9 Sc. and north. sawn, 6–7 Sc. sawne; 4 sewe, 6 Sc. saw.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark iv. 15 Seðe ymb woeᵹ ðer bið ᵹesauen [Rushw. ᵹisawen] word. 971 Blickl. Hom. 133 Þa wæs heora lar sawen. a 1300 Cursor M. 28174 O strif oft haue i sauun þe sede. 1340 Ayenb. 255 Yef hit ys hol oþer aboue y-zawe [= F. sursemée]. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 445 Vile sede of man with syn sawen. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 203 Þare he saw sawyne il seide. c 1440 Alph. Tales 420 A man þat had lande to be sawen. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 1226 Feill off that kyn, in Scotland than was sawyn. 1513 Douglas æneid iv. Prol. 8 In fragill flesche ȝour fekill seid is saw. 1570 Levins Manip. 62 Sawen, satus. c 1629 Sir W. Mure Sonn. iv. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 302 If once the seed of true Repentance sawne. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., Sawn, sown as grain. |
(β) 3–4 i-, 4–5 y-sowe, 4–5 sowe; 3 i-, 4–5 y-sowen, 3–7 sowen, 5 sowun, 5–7 sowne, 4, 6– sown.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 1129 Þar newe sedes beoþ isowe. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 4537 (Kölbing), No corn no was ysowe. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xxvii. 16 If..the feelde is sowun. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 165 Rie of whete ysowen wul vp growe. ? c 1450 Songs, Carols, etc. (1907) 81 The sede of synne so thyke ys sowe. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §10 That..styffe grounde..wolde be sowen with bigge stuffe. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 16 True Loues are often sown. 1608 Dod & Cleaver Expos. Prov. ix–x. 29 Some is sowne before others,..some is sowen after others. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. Ess., The Precepts..are sown so very thick. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 353 A furrow which has been newly sown. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 23 Wheat sown in the spring lives but six months. |
b. weak. 4 i-sowed, 5 sowid, 5, 7– sowed, 6 sowd, 7–8 sow'd.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 34, I haue..I-sowed his seed. 1382 Wyclif Num. xx. 5 This worst place, that may not be sowid. 1596 Spenser Hymn Heav. Beauty 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. Prot. Episc. Ch. Amer. (1846) 63 It was ploughed and sowed. |
B. Signification.
1. intr. or absol. To perform the action of scattering or depositing seed on or in the ground so that it may grow. Also fig. and in fig. context.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxxv. 5 Ða sawað in tearum, in ᵹefian hie reopað. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxv. 24 Ðu hripes ðer ðu ne sawes. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 26 Behealdað heofonan fuᵹlas, forþam þe hiᵹ ne sawað ne hiᵹ ne ripað. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 131 Þe ðe saweð on blescunge he scal mawen of blescunge. c 1205 Lay. 10032 Heo tileden, heo seowen, heo repen, heo meowen. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1039 Hit wes isayd..Þat mon schal eryen & sowe, Þar he weneþ after god mowe. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 6 Al þat euere hulpen him to heren or to sowen. c 1460 Towneley Myst. ii. 124 When I shuld saw, & wantyd seyde. c 1500 God speed the Plough (Skeat) 2 As I me walked ouer feldis wide When men began to Ere and to Sowe. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 92 As thou hast reaped where an other hath sowen. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. Pref. ¶ix b, For as men vse to sow with the hand and not with the whole sacke. 1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxxiii. (1687) 404 The birds..who neither sow nor reap. 1687 Ayres Lyric Poems (1906) 306, [I] Plough water, sow on rocks, and reap the wind. 1785 Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook viii, Hae ye been mawin, When ither folk are busy sawin? 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 623 For a late summer and autumn crop, sow in the end of February. 1865 Ruskin Sesame ii. §95 The path-sides where He has sown. |
2. a. trans. 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.1 26 b, plant v. 6 a.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cvi. 37 [Hie] seowun lond. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxiii, Swa hwa swa wille sawan westmbære land. c 1000 ælfric Lev. xix. 19 Ne saw þu þinne æcyr mid ᵹemengedum sæde. a 1250 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. Glouc. (Rolls) 10195 Þe king þo..vorbed þat me ne ssolde non of is lond sowe. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cvi. 37 Þai sew feldis and þai plantid vyners. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xlvii. 23 Takith seedis, and sowith feeldis, that ȝe mowen han lyuelodis. 1456–70 in Acts Parlt. Scot. (1875) XII. 26/2 The lardis of Meldrum has gart eyre and saw owr said landis of Canty. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 23 After that he tempereth it with dong, than eareth it, soweth it, and haroweth it. 1577 B. Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. 45 When you meane to let your ground lye againe for Meddowe or Pasture, your best is to sowe it with Oates. 1660 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 158, I shall want a little hay dust to sow the holes in the parsnage yard. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia Descr. i. 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. |
| transf. and fig. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1023 Sensualyte..sewe the felde with hys vnkynde seede That causyd Vertu aftyr mykyll woo to feele. 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. i. 29 Itches, Blaines, Sowe all th' Athenian bosomes. 1615 W. Bedwell tr. Moham. Impost. ii. §70 Euery man doth sow his wife. 1819 Shelley Mask of Anarchy lxix, 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 fig.
| 1611 Bible Judges ix. 45 And Abimelech..beat downe the citie and sowed it with salt. 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 Scott Ct. Rob. xxi, The whole mad crew..will return with fire and sword to burn down Constantinople, and sow with salt the place where it stood. 1838 Lytton Alice x. iii, He urged on the horses—he sowed the road with gold. |
c. Of seed: To be sufficient for (a certain area).
| c 1440 [see A. 1]. 1685 W. Penn Furth. Acc. Pennsylv. 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 pa. pple.: Thickly strewn or dotted with something.
| (a) c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle v. v. (1859) 75 This corowne is ful sowen of precious stones. 1426 Lydg. De. Guil. Pilgr. 18284 Withe lesyngs, (who lyst know,) vp and downe it is y-sowe. c 1500 Melusine xxxvi. 288 They thenne departed,..& fond in theire way the feldes sowen with sarasyns deed. c 1611 Chapman Iliad vi. (1887) 92 When..he leaves the conquered field Sown with his slaughters. 1658 Dryden Cromwell xiv, Thick as the Galaxy with Stars is sown. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 132 Beyond that, there is hardly any thing to be found but Desarts sowed with stones. 1759 Ann. Reg. 52 All this sea is sown thick with sands and shoals. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 55 For all the sloping pasture murmur'd, sown With happy faces and with holiday. 1864 ― Aylmer's F. 158 A close-set robe of jasmine sown with stars. |
| (b) 1613 Donne Poems (1633) 124 [It] sowes the Court with starres. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 88 We..made the place so hot for 'em, and sowed the ground so thick with their dead Bodies. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxii, Whirl the ungarner'd sheaf afar, And sow the sky with flying boughs. |
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 oat n. 4.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 22 Ᵹenim tuncersan sio þe self weaxeð & mon ne sæwð. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 262 Beana sawan. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 93 Þat..þe cheorl beo in fryþ his sedes to sowen. a 1300 Cursor M. 12325 O quete a littel sede, Apon þe feld he-self it seu. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 139 Sedes þat were i-sowe fordried in þe erþe. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xiii. 15 The letuse in this moone is so to sowe. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §12 It is necessarye to declare, howe all maner of corne shuld be sowen. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 31 Cleane rie that sowes, the better crop mowes. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xx. 186 The want they have of bread, is countervailed with the rootes they sowe. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 2 When to turn The fruitful Soil, and when to sowe the Corn. 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. I. ii. 50 They sow [horse⁓beans] first broad-cast over the ground, and then plow them in: this, as we call it, being sown under furrow. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 681 Sow spinach; earth up celery and broccoli. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. ii. ii. (1874) 200 He is a husbandman and about to sow the crops which are to be his sustenance. 1908 [Miss Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 21 We sowed and planted Wall-flowers and Stone-crop upon it. |
| refl. 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 65 A crowd of hopes, That sought to sow themselves like winged seeds. |
b. transf. with reference to fish, bacilli, etc.
| 1854 Badham Halieut. 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 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon 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. Diseases viii. 148 When [the plague bacillus is] sown on blood serum.., an abundant, moist, yellowish-grey growth is formed. |
c. Mil. To lay or ‘plant’ (an explosive mine); spec. to drop (mines, etc.) by aircraft into the sea or otherwise. Also absol.
| 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 Ibid. 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 transf. and fig. senses.
| (a) 971 Blickl. Hom. 3 Se Halᵹa Gast seow þæt clæne sæd on þone unbesmitenan innoþ. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 445 He was geten..Of vile sede of man with syn sawen. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 189 Than suld..nocht sa mekle bastard seid [be] Throw out this cuntrie sawin. |
| (b) c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 534 Ᵹif we eow þa gastlican sæd sawaþ, hwonlic biþ þæt we eowere flæsclican þing ripon. c 1200 Ormin 5071 Þatt dæþess laþe sed Þatt deofless æfre sawenn..Inn ure sawless wille. a 1225 Juliana 74 Ant reope we of þat ripe sed þat we seowen. a 1300 Cursor M. 21226 In all þe stedes quar he yede, O godds word he sceued þe sede. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 203 Þare he saw sawyne il seide, to distroy it he cane hyme spede. a 1400–50 Alexander 4404 To sawe emang þir simpill men sedis of debate. c 1480 Henryson Test. Cress. 137 The seede of loue was sowen on my face. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 23 b, To haue great profyte and encrease of our sede, that we haue so sowen for his loue. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 194, I am in belief (I may peraduenture sowe my seede in the sande) that [etc.]. 1648 Hunting 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 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. vii. 30 In all this the seeds of the Conquest were sowing. |
b. Contrasted with reap in fig. uses.
See also quots. c 1000 and a 1225 above. 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 b.
| 1382 Wyclif Pref. Ep. St. Jerome vii. 71/1 Aggeus,..the whiche sewe in teres that he repe in ioy. c 1421 26 Pol. Poems 100 Eche dedly synne is a dedly knyf; For he shal repe þat he sewe. Ibid. 113 Man..Makeþ moche of hym⁓self, sayþe al is oures, And repeth þat he neuere ne sewe. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 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. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 381 Why then from Ireland come I with my strength, And reape the Haruest which that Rascall sow'd. 1823 Lamb Elia ii. Pref., He sowed doubtful speeches, and reaped plain, unequivocal hatred. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion ii. iii. 74 What Darkness sowed the Light shall reap. |
6. fig. To disseminate or spread; to endeavour to propagate or extend. In various contexts.
| (a) c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxvii, Se eorðlica anweald næfre ne sæwð þa cræftas, ac..gadrað unðeawas. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 155 Ure helend saweð his holie word hwile þurh his haȝen muð hwile þurh his apostles. 13.. Know Thyself 58 in E.E. Poems (1862) 131 His grace is so wide isowe. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xi. (Simon & Jude) 404 Quhen þe apostolis had al-quhare In þat land sawyne goddis lare. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 26 The word that is plantit or sawin amongis yow. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 898 Þe richt meanis..Ouir all to haue the Gospell sawin. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 157 Light is sowen for the righteous, and ioy for the vpright in heart. 1839 tr. Lamartine's Trav. 72/1 Their voyage to Greece and Italy, to sow the Gospel. |
| (b) c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. 356 Aworpen mon..on ælce tid saweð wrohte. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶642 Þe synne of hem þat sowen and maken discord. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 91 Whilk amanges neghburghs discordes to sawe makes hym bisy. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 189 Measure and I wyll neuer be deuydyd For no dyscorde than any man can sawe. 1562 Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 77 note, The seditious personis sawis schisme and diuisioun. 1581 Satir. Poems Reform. xliv. 83 Sathan..To rais his kingdome tentation did sau Into þe hairtis of men in all degrie. 1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxxvii. (1687) 493 Let not the evil one..sow this jealousie in your heart. 1720 Ozell tr. Vertot's Rom. Rep. II. xiv. 327 A Counsel which would sow Division in the contrary Party. a 1770 Jortin Serm. (1771) I. iii. 49 Those who teach false doctrines to sew dissension amongst them. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. xi, Between the best of Peoples and the best of Restorer Kings they would sow grudges. 1878 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xviii. 106 He..attempted to sow discord in his brother's Council. |
| (c) 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cvx. 137 Also there were wordes sowen through all the towne, howe [etc.]. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 5 Martin Luther.., who soweth newe opinions in Germany. 1628–9 Digby Voy. Medit. (Camden) 30 Some ill-disposed persons..tooke occasion to sowe mutinous discourses. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 450 He sow'd a slander in the common ear. 1877 ― Harold iv. i, Who sow'd this fancy here among the people? |
| (d) 1531 Elyot Gov. (1580) 57 The necessities, which fortune soweth among menne that be mortall. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 158 We are to cure such sorrowes, not to sowe 'em. 1823 Lamb Elia ii. Tombs in Abbey, The antiquarian spirit..may have been sown in you among those wrecks of splendid mortality. 1849 Blackw. Mag. LXVI. 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). Obs. rare.
| c 1250 Long Life 33 in O.E. Misc. 158 Of fole fulþe þu art isowe, Wormes fode þu schald beo. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8048, Y ne sey..Hym þat þis child on me sew. a 1425 Cursor M. 3424 (Trin.), 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.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 125 Abymelech..destroyed þat place..and sewe salt þerynne, for þe lond schulde na more bere fruit and corne. Ibid. 339 Also powder of erþe of þat lond i-sowe in oþer londes vseþ awey wormes. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 12920 Many a knyȝt was ouer-throwen, Her bodies lay thik sawen. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. viii. (1554) 11 b, His child dismembred and abrode ysowe. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xi. (Percy Soc.) 38 What avayleth evermore to sowe The precyous stones amonge gruntynge hogges? 1513 Douglas æneid vii. x. 28 Armouris, suerdis, speris and scheildis, I sall do saw and strow our all the feyldis. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. 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 373 They were astonish'd to see my people so thin sown, our scanty number not making any manner of show. 1837 Marryat Dog Fiend i, With lank hair very thinly sown upon a head which [etc.]. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 171 Not sowing hedge⁓row texts and passing by, Nor dealing goodly counsel from a height. |
b. To distribute or disperse. Obs. rare.
| c 1350 Leg. Rood (1871) 90 And sethin als wide als þai er saun Has no iew hous of his awyn. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 685 Bot thai prophetis so thyn ar sawin, That thair in erd now nane is knawin. 1382 Wyclif Zech. x. 9, Y shal sowe hem in peplis. 1535 Coverdale Ibid., I wil sowe them amonge the people. |
† 9. Sc. To shed (blood). Obs.—1
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 303 Wemen..sall nocht..draw abak quhair mekill blude is sawin. |
Hence sowed (səʊd), ˈsowing ppl. adjs.
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. xiii. 18 Therfore heere ȝe the parable of the sowynge man. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 205 This Mischief happens oftner to the latter sowed Wheat. 1876 Meredith Beauch. Career xxix, Moveless do they seem to you? Why, so is the earth to the sowing husbandman. |
▪ IX. sow, v.2 north. and Sc.
Also 5 sowe, 8–9 dial. soo, 9 soue.
[Of obscure origin.]
1. trans. To affect (a person) with pain; to pain or grieve sorely. Usu. with sore.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6568 Mikel i haf trauaild for yow..Þat suilk a godd all honurs now Þat will yow her-after sare sow. a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) v. 12 When he sailed in þe Swin it sowed him sare. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvii. (Vincent) 292 Thinkand he mycht na payne mare do til hyme to sow hyme sare. a 1400–50 Alexander 2313 And þai said, soure suld him sowe bot he þe cite ȝeld. |
2. intr. To be painful; to thrill or tingle with pain or exertion.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Chron. viii. 6224 Qwhen he a qwhile had prekyt þar, And sum of þaim he gert sow sare. 1438 Bk. Alexander Grt. (Bann) 87 The sydis of sum may sowe full sair. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 258 Thair scharp schutting maid sydis for till sow. a 1586 in Pinkerton Anc. Sc. Poems (1786) 201 Scho gars me murne,..And with sair straiks scho gars me sow. 1885 Gordon Pyotshaw 297 If that bit race hisna set my lugs a' sooin'. |
3. absol. To produce a tingling sensation.
| 1796 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. (ed. 2) II. 346 To Soo, to pain the hand, in striking with a hammer or beetle: to jar. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v. Soo, It soues up my arm. |
▪ X. sow
obs. 1st and 3rd sing. ind. pa. tense see v.
▪ XI. sow
obs. form of sew v., sue v.