Contextualizebeta

thew

noun
/θjuː/UK/θ(j)u/US

Etymology

From Middle English theu, thew (“way of behaving towards others, bearing, manners; habit, practice; good manners, courtesy; characteristic act; characteristic, trait; custom, tradition; established rule, ordinance; injunction; moral character; (in the plural) set of moral principles, morals; moral quality, virtue or vice; might, power, strength”) [and other forms] (often in the plural form theus, thewes), from Old English þēaw (“general practice of a community, custom, usage; mode of conduct, behaviour, manner; (in the plural) customs, virtue”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *þauw, from Proto-Germanic *þawwaz (“custom; habit”); further etymology uncertain, tentatively identified by the Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen (Etymological Dictionary of Old High German) as a reflex of an s-less variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)tāu-, *(s)te- (“to stand; to place”), from *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”). Cognates * Old Frisian thāw * Old High German dau, thau (“coercion; discipline; tuition”) * Old Saxon thau (“custom, usage; habit”)

  1. inherited from *(s)tāu-✻
  2. inherited from *þawwaz✻ — “custom; habit”
  3. inherited from *þauw✻
  4. inherited from þēaw — “general practice of a community, custom, usage; mode of conduct, behaviour, manner; (in the plural) customs, virtue”
  5. inherited from theu

Definitions

  1. An attractive physical attribute

    An attractive physical attribute; also, physical, mental, or moral strength or vigour.

    • I felt the thews of Anakim, / The pulses of a Titan's heart.

  2. An aspect of the body which indicates physical strength

    An aspect of the body which indicates physical strength; hence, muscle and/or sinew; muscular development.

    • [C]are I for the limbe, the thevves, the ſtature, bulke and big aſſemblance of a man: giue me the ſpirit […]
    • […] Romans novv / Haue Thevves, and Limbes, like to their Anceſtors; / But vvoe the vvhile, our Fathers mindes are dead, / And vve are gouern'd vvith our Mothers ſpirits, / Our yoake, and ſufferance, ſhevv vs VVomaniſh.
    • For nature creſſant does not grovve alone / In thevvs and bulkes, but as this temple vvaxes, / The invvard ſervice of the minde and ſoule / Grovves vvide vvithal, […]

  3. A way of behaving

    A way of behaving; hence, a characteristic, a trait.

    • He with good thevves and ſpeaches vvell applyde, / Did mollifie, and calme her raging heat.
    • A man of proof / Was Urien in his day; thought worthiest, / In martial thewes and manly discipline, / To train the sons of Owen.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. A good characteristic or habit

      A good characteristic or habit; a virtue.

    2. To instruct (someone) in morals or values

      To instruct (someone) in morals or values; also (more generally) to chastise or discipline (someone); to teach or train (someone).

    3. A surname from Middle English.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for thew. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA