sew

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb fasten by sewing; do needlework
  2. verb create (clothes) with cloth

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

run up, sew together, stitch

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