Meanings
plural sewels · alternative shewel
- A scarecrow, generally made of feathers tied to a string, hung up to prevent deer from breaking into a place.First known use mid 14th c.
Their sewels are made by tying a tassel of birch rind , formed like the wing of a paper kite , to the small end of a slight stick , about six feet in length. These sticks are pricked into the ground about ten or a dozen yards apart
1768, John Cartwright, Remarks on the Situation of the Aborigines of Newfoundland …
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*skewbʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*skeuhaz“frightened; bashful, coy, shy, timid; cautious, reserved”
- Proto-West Germanic*skiuhijan“to dread; to avoid, shun”
- Old English*scīewels
- Middle Englishsheueles“scarecrow”
- Englishsewel
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”))
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
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Cite this entry
sewel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sewel
“sewel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sewel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sewel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sewel.
Source: sewel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.