stew

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A dish of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid.

   She made a warming beef stew for dinner.

2. 2
   noun

   A state of worry or nervous excitement.

   He was in a stew about the exam results.

From Middle English stewe, stue, from Anglo-Norman estouve, Old French estuve (“bath, bathhouse”) (modern French étuve), from Medieval Latin stupha, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *extufāre, from ex- + Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, steam”), from τύφω (túphō, “to smoke”). See also Italian stufare, Portuguese estufar. Compare also Old English stuf-bæþ (“a hot-air bath, vapour bath”); see stove.

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