English Explanatory Dictionary

hew

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down.
  2. To shape; to form.
  3. To act according to, to conform to; usually construed with to.
noun
  1. Destruction by cutting down or hewing.
noun
  1. Hue; colour.
  2. Shape; form.
name
  1. A surname originating as a patronymic.
name
  1. Initialism of (US Department of) Health, Education, and Welfare, now HHS.

Pronunciation

/hjuː/ /xjuː/ /çjuː/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hew.wav

Word forms

hew hews hewing hewed hewn hewen

Etymology

From Middle English hewen, from Old English hēawan, from Proto-West Germanic *hauwan, from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to strike, hew, forge”). Cognate to West Frisian houwe (“to hew”), Cimbrian hauan (“to dig”), Dutch houwen (“to hew”), German hauen (“to hew”), Luxembourgish haen (“to chop”), Danish hugge (“to hew”), Faroese høgga (“to hew”), Icelandic höggva (“to hew”), Norwegian Bokmål hogge, hugge (“to hew”), Norwegian Nynorsk hogga (“to hew”), Swedish hugga (“to hew”). Sense 3 derives from the phrase hew to the line (literally “cut evenly with an axe or saw”).

Derived words

behew forehew forhew hewable hew down hewer hewn hew out mishew rehew rough-hew tohew unhewed
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