sewel
See also: šəw̕əɬ
English
Etymology
From Early Middle English sheueles (“scarecrow”) [and other forms];[1] 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.[2]
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”))
Noun
sewel (plural sewels)
- A scarecrow, generally made of feathers tied to a string, hung up to prevent deer from breaking into a place. [from mid 14th c.]
- 1768, John Cartwright, Remarks on the Situation of the Aborigines of Newfoundland [...]:
- 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
Alternative forms
References
- “sheueles, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “sewel, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2022.
Further reading
- “sewel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Cahuilla
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