growan

English

Etymology

Compare Armorican grouan (“gravel”), Cornish grow (“gravel, sand”).

Noun

growan (countable and uncountable, plural growans)

1. (UK, mining) A decomposed granite, forming a mass of gravel, as in tin lodes in Cornwall.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “growan”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• Gawron, Gowran, awrong, warong

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *grōan, from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow, become green”), Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow, grow green”). Cognate with Old Frisian grōwa (“to grow”), Middle Dutch groeyen, grōyen (“to grow”) (Dutch groeien), Old High German gruoen (“to grow, thrive, flourish”), Old Norse grōa (“to grow, become green”), Old English græs (“grass”), Old English grēne (“green”). More at grass, green.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡroː.wɑn/

Verb

grōwan

1. (of plants) to grow
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Hit is weliġ þis ēalond on wæstmum ⁊ on trēowum misenlīcra cynna; ⁊ hit is ġesċræpe on lǣwe sċēapa ⁊ nēata; ⁊ on sumum stōwum wīnġeardas grōwaþ.

     This island is rich in fruits and trees of various kinds; and it is suitable for the pasture of sheep and cattle; and in some places vineyards grow.

Conjugation

Conjugation of grōwan (strong class 7)

infinitive	grōwan	grōwenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	grōwe	grēow
second person singular	grēwst	grēowe
third person singular	grēwþ	grēow
plural	grōwaþ	grēowon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	grōwe	grēowe
plural	grōwen	grēowen
imperative
singular	grōw
plural	grōwaþ
participle	present	past
	grōwende	(ġe)grōwen

Derived terms

• forgrōwan

Derived terms

• Middle English: growen
  • English: grow
  • Scots: grow