Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃəʊ/ (UK); /ʃoʊ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English shewen, showen,[2][3] inherited from Old English scēawian (“to look at, see, inspect”),[4][5][2] from Proto-Germanic *skauwōjaną,[2][4] from the root *skau- (“behold, look at”),[4] from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keu- (“to see, perceive, watch”).[4][6][7] Its cognates Old Frisian skāwia, Old Saxon skauwon, Dutch schouwen and Old High German scouwōn (modern German schauen) all mean “to look at”;[2][4][3] outside Germanic it is related to Ancient Greek θυοσκόος (thuoskóos, “sacrificing priest, literally watcher of the sacrifice”), Sanskrit कवि (kaví, “seer, sage”) and Latin cavēre (“to beware”).[6][8][7] The spelling shew represents an obsolete pronunciation rhyming with view;[4] Hoad says it reflects the original falling diphthong of the Old English word.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old English, to look at, gaze on, inspect (about 725, in Beowulf);[6][9] the sense “to let be seen” appears in early Middle English, around 1200.[6][4][10]

Semantic evolution

The change from “look at” to “cause to be looked at” took place around 1200 for reasons that are not known; it seems to be unique to English (German schauen still means “to look at”), and within a century it had displaced the older meaning.[4][8][6] Partridge quotes Walshe's explanation that the English verb denotes the same action from the opposite point of view.[7] The senses “to explain, make clear” and, intransitively, “to be seen, appear” followed from about 1300.[4][8] The strong past participle shown is found from the 12th century, while the weak showed, shewed continued into the 19th.[8] The noun, first “the act of showing” (about 1300), meant “a false appearance” from the 1520s, “an elaborate spectacle” from 1561 and “ostentatious display” from 1713;[4][2] it was used of an exhibition of curiosities by 1760 and of any public display by 1830, and of a radio programme by 1932.[4] Colloquial uses such as run the show are of American origin, according to Weekley;[10] Green's records show “an affair, a matter” from 1728.[11] In horse racing the verb meant to finish in the first three by 1903, and the noun “third place” is American from 1925.[4] In Australia a show has meant “a chance” since 1876.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English scēawian, to look at.[6]
  • c. 1200 – shewen, to cause to be seen.[2][4]
  • c. 1300 – noun, the act of showing; verb, to explain, to appear.[4][2]
  • 1520s – a false appearance.[4]
  • 1561 – an elaborate spectacle.[2][4]
  • 1713 – ostentatious display.[4]
  • 1728 – an affair or matter (slang).[11]
  • 1789 – show of hands.[4]
  • 1850 – show business (US).[4][6]
  • 1876 – a chance (Australia).[12]
  • 1890 – the show must go on.[4]
  • 1903 – to finish in the first three in a race.[4]
  • 1932 – a radio programme.[4]
  • 1937 – show trial.[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To cause or allow to be seen; to display or exhibit.
  2. To present (a film, programme or performance) to the public.
  3. To guide or usher: showed them to the table.
  4. To point out; to teach by demonstration: show me how to swim.
  5. To make clear or prove by reasoning or evidence.
  6. To reveal (a feeling or quality); of an instrument, to register: the barometer shows a fall.
  7. To be or become visible.
  8. (informal) To arrive or appear; to show up.
  9. (horse racing) To finish third or better.
  10. (informal) Of a woman, to look visibly pregnant.

Noun

  1. A display or demonstration: a show of strength.
  2. A false appearance; a pretence: a show of friendship.
  3. Ostentatious display.
  4. A public exhibition or entertainment; a theatrical performance; a radio or television programme.
  5. A competitive exhibition of animals.
  6. (informal) An undertaking or affair: run the show.
  7. (chiefly Australia) A chance.
  8. (medicine) The discharge of blood-tinged mucus that signals the start of labour.
  9. (horse racing) Third place.

Word family

  • showable
  • showless
  • preshow
  • reshow
  • foreshow
  • outshow
  • show-through
  • shew
  • showy
  • showcase
  • showdown
  • show business
  • caution
  • scavenger
  • hear

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary calls show the most general of the verbs meaning to present something to view;[5] display suggests presenting it to best advantage, expose bringing it out from concealment.[5] Among the nouns, Random House notes that show often means an outward appearance that may or may not match the facts, as in a show of modesty.[13] The spelling shew is now rare.[14]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  8. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  12. ^ a b Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
  13. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  14. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap