sow

name

1. A surname.
2. A river in Staffordshire, England, which joins the River Trent.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sew-? Proto-Indo-European *sewH-? Proto-Indo-European *suH-der. Proto-Germanic *sugō Proto-West Germanic *sugu Old English sugu Middle English sowe English sow 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.

1. A female animal
2. A female animal

   “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 animal
4. A contemptible, often fat woman.
5. Clipping of sowbug.
6. A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
7. A mass of metal solidified in a mold.

   “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.”

8. 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.

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- Proto-Germanic *sēaną Proto-West Germanic *sāan Old English sāwan Middle English sowen English sow 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.

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

   “When I had sown the field, the day's work was over.”

2. To spread abroad; to propagate.

   “as you sow, so shall you reap”

   “Euen as I haue seene, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickednsse, reape the same.”

3. To scatter over; to besprinkle.

   “The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, […] and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it with trifles.”

   “[He] sowd with Starrs the heav'n.”

4. Obsolete spelling of sew.