sew

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To join or repair pieces of cloth using a needle and thread.

   She sewed a button back onto his shirt.

2. 2
   verb

   To make clothes from cloth using a needle and thread.

   Can the tailor sew me a suit by next week?

From Middle English sewen, seowen, sowen, from Old English siwian, seowian, seowan (“to sew, mend, patch, knit together, link, unite”), from Proto-Germanic *siwjaną (“to sew”), from Proto-Indo-European *syewH- (“to sew”). Cognate with Scots sew, North Frisian saie, sei, Saterland Frisian säie, Danish sy, Swedish sy, and, more distantly, Polish szyć, Russian шить (šitʹ), Latin suō, Sanskrit सीव्यति (sī́vyati). Related to seam.

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