Etymologically
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sew

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Pronunciation

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

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)