Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sown” come from?

Sown derives from Old English sāwan, from Proto-Germanic sēaną, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European roots related to scattering or dispersing seeds.

sown (English): past participle of sow

Definitions

  1. past participle of sow

Ancestry of “sown”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsowA female pig; A female bear, she-bear; A female...
2Middle EnglishsoweA female pig; A siege engine used to protect...
3Old Englishsūgu—
4Proto-West Germanic*sugu—

Words derived from “sown”

  • unsown
  • self-sown
Every word from Proto-West Germanic *sugu →