screw English · revision 6647

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1404}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈskɹuː/ ''(UK)''; /ˈskɹu/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English scrwe, skrewe, [[bor|frm|escroue|t=nut, cylindrical socket, screw-hole]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Barnhart derives it from Gallo-Romance *scrōba, from [[la|scrobis|t=ditch, hole]], influenced by [[m|la|scrōfa|t=breeding sow]],^(Barnhart 1988) and Kluge, Watkins and MWU from scrōfa, which in Medieval Latin meant a female screw, perhaps from a resemblance to the furrows a rooting pig leaves.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) The Germanic forms, such as German Schraube, were probably borrowed from French.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The spelling -ew was influenced by words such as dew and flew.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A cylinder with a spiral ridge, originally an apparatus for lifting weights or pressing: 1404.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The screw was counted one of the mechanical powers from 1570.^(OED 1989) The metal pin with a spiral thread for joining wood or metal is by the 1620s.^(Etymonline) ''The screws'', an instrument of torture, is from 1663,^(OED 1989) and a means of pressure or coercion from 1648–49.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The verb, to twist like a screw, is from 1599, in Ben Jonson,^(Barnhart 1988) to fasten with a screw from the 1610s,^(Etymonline) and to oppress from the 1620s.^(Etymonline) The slang sense to copulate is from at least 1725,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and to cheat from 1900.^(Etymonline) ''Screw up'' meant to raise a rent exorbitantly in the 1630s and to blunder from 1942;^(Etymonline) Word Origins calls it a US euphemism.^(Cresswell 2021) A prison warder is a screw in British slang.^(Collins 2023) The screwdriver is from 1779.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1404 – a screw for lifting or pressing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1620s – a wood or metal screw.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1648 – a means of pressure.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1725 – to copulate.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – screw up, to blunder.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A metal pin with a spiral [[thread]] and a slotted head, turned to fasten things together.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[propeller]], especially of a ship.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A turn or twist of a screw.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British slang)'' A prison warder.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' An act of sexual intercourse.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fasten or tighten with a screw, or by turning.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To twist out of shape; to [[contort]]: ''screw up one's face''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' To cheat or [[swindle]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' To have sexual intercourse with.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''screw up'' (slang): to make a mess of.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[screwable]]

+ * [[screwer]]

+ * [[screwlike]]

+ * [[screwless]]

+ * [[screw-off]]

+ * [[screw-top]]

+ * [[jackscrew]]

+ * [[leadscrew]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[screwdriver]]

+ * [[scrofula]]

+ * [[corkscrew]]

+ * [[screwball]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}