sowe

See also: sowę

English

Verb

sowe

1. Obsolete spelling of sow.
   • 1560, Peter Whitehorne, Machiavelli, Volume I‎^[1]:

     It hath been sometyme of greate importaunce, whilest the faighte continueth, to sowe voices, whiche doe pronounce the capitaine of thenemies to be dedde, or to have overcome on the other side of the armie: the whiche many times to them that have used it, hath given the victorie.

   • 1589, George Puttenham, The Arte of English Poesie‎^[2]:

     The daughter of debate, that eke discord doth sowe Shal reap no gaine where formor rule hath taught stil peace to growe.

Anagrams

• owes, swoe, woes

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English sūgu, sū, from Proto-West Germanic *sugu. Compare swyn. Use as a term for a siege engine is a semantic loan from Medieval Latin sūs.

Alternative forms

• sew, sogh, soouwe, soughe, sow, sowȝe, suwe, zoȝe
• sue, suge, suhe, suhge, suwa (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsuː(ə)/

Noun

sowe (plural sowes or sowe)

1. A sow; a female pig.
2. A siege engine used to protect assailants.
3. (rare) A sowbug; a woodlouse.

Descendants

• English: sow
• Scots: sou

References

• “sǒue, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-22.

Etymology 2

Verb

sowe

1. Alternative form of sowen (“to sow”)

Etymology 3

Verb

sowe

1. Alternative form of sowen (“to torment”)