sewel

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*skewbʰ-
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*skeuhaz“frightened; bashful, coy, shy, timid; cautious, reserved”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*skiuhijan“to dread; to avoid, shun”
4. Old English · inherited from*scīewels
5. Middle English · inherited fromsheueles“scarecrow”
6. English todaysewel

From Early Middle English sheueles (“scarecrow”) [and other forms]; probably from Old English *scīewels, from sċīen (“to be frightened or startled; to recoil in fear”) (from Proto-West Germanic *skiuhijan (“to dread; to avoid, shun”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“frightened; bashful, coy, shy, timid; cautious, reserved”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-, *skūbʰ- (“to drive, move forward, push”) or *(s)kewH- (“to cover; to hide”)) + -els (suffix forming masculine nouns). Doublet of shy. Cognates * Middle English asheuelen, asheulen (verb) * Middle Low German schūwelse * Middle High German schiusel, schusel (modern German Scheusal (“beast; monster”)) * Old High German sciuhen (Middle High German schiuhen, schiuwen, German scheuen (“to scare”))

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from mid 14th c. A scarecrow, generally made of feathers tied to a string, hung up to prevent deer from breaking into a place.