shaw

Shaw, a thicket, is an Old English word, while shaw, the stalks of potatoes, is probably a Scots form of show.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃɔː/ (UK); /ʃɔ/ (US)^[4]

shaw¹ thicket

Etymology

It is Middle English shawe, inherited from Old English sceaga (“copse, thicket”), scaga,^[1][5][2] cognate with North Frisian skage, the farthest edge of cultivated land, and Old Norse skagi, promontory,^[1][5][2] and related to shag.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thicket, small wood or copse: 755–57.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Greenwood shaw and shaw of wood are from before 1400.^[6] A strip of wood forming the border of a field is from 1577 (the 1570s), the respelling shaw dating from then.^[6][1] The verb, to border a field with a shaw, is from 1610.^[6] The Old English word is also the source of the surname Shaw, from the late 12th century.^[1]

Timeline

• 755–57 – a thicket.^[6]
• late 12th century – the surname Shaw.^[1]
• 1577 – a field border.^[6]
• 1610 – the verb.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (archaic or dialect) A small wood; a thicket or copse.

Word family

• woodshaw

shaw² potato stalks

Etymology

It is probably an alteration of show,^[2][3] the Scots form of the word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The stalks and leaves of potatoes and turnips: 1726 in MWU, 1801 in the OED; the early 19th century in NODE.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

In Scots shaw is also the verb to show and a noun, a show.^[7]

Timeline

• 1726 – first known use.^[2]
• 1801 – potato tops.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly Scottish) The stalks and leaves of a potato or turnip plant.

Related words

• shag
• show

Usage notes

In north Lincolnshire a shaw was a kind of potato, said to be named after the man who raised it.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ 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)