Etymology

chaw

C3H4A1W4

Today it means: That which is chewed. Full definition →

Early Modern English chawe ← Middle English *chawe ← Old English *ċēawe
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chaw · noun, verb1

An unexplained variation of chewen (“to chew”). First attested in the sixteenth century. See chew for more. Cognate with Middle Dutch cauwen ("to chew"; whence Dutch kauwen), obsolete Dutch kauw (“the act of chewing, that which is chewed, chewed mass, wad of tobacco”), Middle Low German kauwen, kauen (“to chew”). Compare also Old English ġecow (“that which is chewed, food”) and *ġeċēaw (“chewing”), whence Middle English icheu (“gnawing, biting”).

chaw · noun2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromjowe
  2. Old English · inherited from*ċēawe
  3. Middle English · inherited from*chawe
  4. Early Modern English · inherited fromchawe
  5. English todaychaw

From Early Modern English chawe, either a form of Middle English chaul, chavel, jawle, jawe (“jaw”) (whence also English jowl) which has lost the final -l, or from Middle English *chawe, *chowe, from Old English *ċēawe, *ċēowe (“jaw”), or a form of Middle English jowe, jawe (“jaw”). See jowl and jaw for more.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.