shaw English · revision 8042

+ Shaw, a thicket, is an Old English word, while shaw, the stalks of potatoes, is probably a Scots form of [[show]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃɔː/ ''(UK)''; /ʃɔ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

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+ {{homograph|1|thicket}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=755–57|origins=ang sceaga}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English shawe, [[inh|ang|sceaga|t=copse, thicket]], scaga,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) cognate with North Frisian skage, the farthest edge of cultivated land, and Old Norse skagi, promontory,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) and related to [[shag]].^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A thicket, small wood or copse: 755–57.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Greenwood shaw'' and ''shaw of wood'' are from before 1400.^(OED 1989) A strip of wood forming the border of a field is from 1577 (the 1570s), the respelling shaw dating from then.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, to border a field with a shaw, is from 1610.^(OED 1989) The Old English word is also the source of the surname Shaw, from the late 12th century.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 755–57 – a thicket.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 12th century – the surname Shaw.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1577 – a field border.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610 – the verb.^(OED 1989)

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+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic or dialect)'' A small wood; a [[thicket]] or [[copse]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[woodshaw]]

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+ {{homograph|2|potato stalks}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1726}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably an alteration of [[show]],^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) the Scots form of the word.^(Collins 2023)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The stalks and leaves of potatoes and turnips: 1726 in MWU, 1801 in the OED; the early 19th century in NODE.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Scots shaw is also the verb to show and a noun, a show.^(Collins 2023)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1726 – first known use.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1801 – potato tops.^(OED 1989)

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+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly Scottish)'' The stalks and leaves of a [[potato]] or turnip plant.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[shag]]

+ * [[show]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ In north Lincolnshire a shaw was a kind of potato, said to be named after the man who raised it.^(Wright 1898)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}