sew

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sewen, also seuen and sowen,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English siwian, earlier seowian, also siwan,^[5][6][7][8] from Proto-Germanic *siwjaną.^[5][9][10] It is cognate with Old Frisian sīa, Old High German siuwen, Old Norse sýja (whence sy and sye) and Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (siujan).^{[11][5][6][8]} Outside Germanic it is related to Latin suō (“to sew”), the source of suture, Sanskrit सीव्यति (sī́vyati, “sews”),^[3][10][12] Ancient Greek ὑμήν (humḗn, “membrane”), the source of hymen;^[12][4] all go back to Proto-Indo-European *syu- (“to bind, sew”).^[5][13] seam comes from the same root,^[12] but sow is unrelated.^[12] The spelling with “-ew” (Wycliffe wrote “sou-” and Chaucer “sow-”) appeared in the late 14th century and became established.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To fasten or join pieces of cloth or leather with a thread passed through holes made by a needle: Old English, in the Corpus Glossary;^[11] Barnhart dates Old English siowian to before 800 and siwian to before 1050,^[6] and the Middle English form seuwen to about 1290.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Old English already used the verb for sewing, mending and patching,^[5][7] and the West Saxon Gospels use it of sewing a patch on a garment.^[11][7] From about 1200 it meant to make clothing with a needle and thread,^[5] and by the mid 15th century it was used intransitively, to work with a needle.^[5][11] Sew up, to close a wound or opening by stitching, is first found in Caxton (1490),^[11][5] and the Middle English verb was already used in surgery.^[2] Bookbinders sewed the sheets of a book from 1637.^[11] In 19th-century slang sew up meant to tire out a horse or a person (1826) and to make someone drunk (1829).^[11][14][3] The modern colloquial sew up, to settle something as one wishes, dates from 1904,^[5] and in the United States it also means to gain exclusive control of something.^[15][3] The sewing machine is recorded from 1847.^[6]

Timeline

• before 800 – Old English siowian.^[6]
• before 1050 – Old English siwian.^[6]
• c. 1200 – to make a garment with needle and thread.^[5]
• c. 1290 – Middle English seuwen.^[6][11]
• 1399 – to make a seam.^[11]
• c. 1450 – intransitive, to work with needle and thread.^[11][5]
• 1490 – sew up, to close by stitching, in Caxton.^[11][5]
• 1637 – bookbinding, to sew the sheets of a book.^[11]
• 1826 – slang, sew up, to tire out.^[11][3]
• 1847 – sewing machine.^[6]
• 1904 – sew up, to bring to a desired conclusion.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To join, attach or fasten with stitches made by a needle and thread: He sewed the patch onto his jacket.^[15][3][11]
2. To make or mend a garment by sewing.^[15][3][11]
3. To enclose something by sewing, often with in or into: She sewed the coins into the hem of her skirt.^[3][11]
4. To work with a needle and thread: My grandfather taught me to sew.^[15][3][11]
5. sew up: to close a wound or a hole by stitching.^[15][11]
6. sew up (informal): to settle or complete something successfully: The deal was sewn up by Friday.^[15][3]
7. sew up (US): to gain exclusive control of something.^[15][3]

Word family

• sewable
• sewability
• oversew
• resew
• unsew
• sew up

Related words

• seam
• suture
• hymen
• sewer
• seamstress

Usage notes

Sew is pronounced like sow, to plant seed, though the words are unrelated.^[12][16] A dialect verb sew, pronounced /sjuː/ and meaning to drain or (of liquid) to ooze, and of a ship to be aground, has a separate source: Old French essewer (“to drain”), also the source of sewer.^{[3][11][17][18]}

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
14. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
17. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
18. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)