▪ I. farrow, n.
(ˈfærəʊ)
Also 1 faerh, fearh, 3 far, 8–9 dial farry. Cf. fare n.2
[OE. fearh str. masc. corresp. to OS. *farh (whence diminutive MLG. ferken, Du. varken), OHG. farh, farah (MHG. varch; diminutive OHG. farhelîn, MHG. verkel, mod.G. ferkel):—OTeut. *farho-z boar:—pre-Teut. *porkos = Gr. πόρκος, L. porcus: see pork.]
† 1. A young pig. Obs.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 811 Porcellus, faerh. a 1100 Ags. Voc. in Wr. Wülcker 321 Porcellus, fearh. c 1300 K. Alis. 2441 Heo..flodeden, so faren in feld. |
| transf. 1820 Byron Morg. Mag. lxiii, Another, to revenge his fellow farrow, Against the giant rush'd. |
2. An act or instance of farrowing. [Properly another word; f. the vb.]
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 229 One sow may bring at one farrow twenty pigges. 1869 Daily News 8 Dec., Mr. Lynn and his man..proved the dates of the farrows. |
3. Hence concr. A litter of pigs; occas. in sing. (after Shakespeare) with numeral to indicate the number of young.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 149 b, If you will have two farrowes in one yeere. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 65 Powre in Sowes blood, that hath eaten Her nine Farrow. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 519 The Lavinians were much troubled about the signification of such a monstrous farrow. 1787 Hunter in Phil. Trans. LXXVII. 236 In that time she had eight farrows..and had in all seventy-six pigs. 1826 in Sheridaniana 313 A fine Chinese sow and nine farrow. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xvii, Two farrows of pigs ready for the chapman. |
4. Of the sow: in farrow or with farrow: with young.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 150 So shall the damme . bee sooner with farrowe againe. 1884 Farm & Home 25 Oct. 275/2 Boars do not usually pay much attention to sows in farrow. |
5. attrib., as farrow-sow.
| 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. xxi. 182 She rides upon a farrow-sow. |
▪ II. farrow, a. Chiefly Sc.
(ˈfærəʊ)
Forms: 5 Sc. ferow, 6–8 Sc. furrow, 7– farrow.
[Of unknown derivation; farrow cow corresponds formally to Flemish verwekoe, varwekoe (De Bo), in 16th c. ‘verrekoe, taura’ (Kilian), which means a cow that has ceased to be capable of producing offspring.]
Of a cow: That is not with calf (see quots.). Also in to be farrow, go farrow or run farrow. farrow-farrow, barren in two successive seasons.
| 1494 Act. Dom. Conc. 363 Twa ferow ky. 15.. Depredations in Argyll 51 (Jam.) Sex furrow cows. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 173/2 A Farrow Cow is a Cow that gives Milk in the second year after her Calving, having no Calf that year. 1725 Ramsay Gent. Sheph. iii. iii, My faulds contain twice fifteen furrow nowt. 1856 Aird Poet. Wks. 193 Farrow, ill-haired, and lean. 1879 Mem. Ochiltree 52 If the same animal had no calf the following year, she was farrow-farrow. |
| fig. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 19 Whatever is big with or positive of eternity, cannot go farrow, or be privative of real entity. |
▪ III. farrow, v.
(ˈfærəʊ)
Forms: 4–6 Sc. ferrie. (6 farowe), 7–9 dial. farry, 4– farrow. Also 3 iveruwe, 4 yvarȝe; and see fare v.2
[f. farrow n.]
1. trans. Of a sow: To bring forth (young).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 204 Þus beoð þeos pigges iueruwed. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. vi. 72 A grete sow fereit of grysis thretty heid. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 126 Many Sowes..will deuoure their Pigges when they haue farro'd them. 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. lviii, A sow..farrowed fifteen pigs at a litter. 1828–40 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 137 The English sow had farrowed her pigs. |
| fig. 1823 Lamb Lett. (1888) II. 60 If Evelyn could have seen him, he would never have farrowed two such prodigious volumes. |
2. intr. To produce a litter.
| 1340 Ayenb. 61 Þe zoȝe huanne hi heþ yuarȝed wel bleþeliche byt men ycloþed mid huyt. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 701 On the wallis thai can cry, ‘That thair sow ferryit wes thair!’ 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 342 For that same sow I haif ordand sic draf..Sall gar hir ferrie sone at the midsyde. 1601 Holland Pliny viii. li. 229 Swine..farrow commonly twice a yeere. a 1658 Ford, etc. Witch Edmonton v. ii, To cast her Pigs a day before she would have farried. 1727 Swift Baucis & Philemon, Thought whose sow had farrow'd last. 1838–42 Arnold Hist. Rome I. i. 2 She laid down and farrowed, and her litter was of thirty young ones. |
† b. Of other animals. (See also farrowing ppl. a.). Obs. rare.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, La Muette..the place where a Hare doth farrow. |
Hence ˈfarrowed, ˈfarrowing ppl. adjs., ˈfarrowing vbl. n. Also attrib.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 83 Her mylckwhit farroed hoglings. 1510–20 Compl. too late maryed (1862) 8 A farrowynge bytche. 1398 Trevisa Barth De P.R. xix. lxiii. (1495) 899 A sowe is moost thicke in farowynge tyme. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 149 b, Her farrowing times are so divided for the nonce. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 518 Barly..at the farrowing causeth an easie and safe pigging. |