Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mew” come from?

Mew comes from Middle English mewe, from Middle French moue, from Latin mutare meaning "to change," ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European mew-.

mew (English): A gull, seagull; A prison, or other place of...

Definitions

  1. A gull, seagull; A prison, or other place of...

Ancestry of “mew”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmeweseagull, gull; A cage used for allowing birds to...
2Old Englishmǣwmew, seagull; seagull
3Proto-West Germanic*maiwī—
4Proto-Germanicmaiwazgull, seagull
5Proto-Germanicmaiwijanąto shout, mew

Words derived from “mew”

  • mowing
  • mow
  • mower
  • mown
  • mewing
  • lawnmower
  • moe
  • haymow
  • unmown
  • seamew
  • lawnmowing
  • moweth
  • emmew
  • mowest
  • remow
  • mowable
  • enmew
  • unmowable
  • moé
  • mowerless
  • immew
  • inmew
  • unmew
  • mowburning
Every word from Proto-Germanic maiwijaną →