mew

mew · noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*mai(h)waz“seagull”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*maiwī
3. Old English · inherited frommǣw“seagull”
4. Middle English · inherited frommewe
5. English todaymew

From Middle English mewe, mowe, meau, from Old English mǣw (“seagull”), from Proto-West Germanic *maiwī, from Proto-Germanic *mai(h)waz (“seagull”). See also West Frisian meau, miuw, Dutch meeuw, German Möwe (whence Polish mewa); akin to Latvian maût (“to roar”), Old Church Slavonic мꙑꙗти (myjati, “to mew”).

mew · noun, verb²

1. Middle French · derived frommue“shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison”
2. Anglo-Norman · derived frommue
3. Middle English · inherited frommewe
4. English todaymew

From Middle English mewe, mue, mwe, from Anglo-Norman mue, muwe, and Middle French mue (“shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison”), from muer (“to moult”).

mew · noun, verb, interjection³

1. Middle English · inherited frommewen
2. English todaymew

From Middle English mewen; onomatopoeic.

mew · verb⁴

Named after British orthodontists John Mew and his son Michael Mew.

Words from the same roots