dew

See also: DEW and dew-

English

Etymology

From Middle English dew, from Old English dēaw (“dew”), from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz, *dawwą (“dew, moisture”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke, haze”). Cognate with West Frisian dau, North Frisian dauw (“dew”), Dutch dauw (“dew”), Low German Dau, German Tau (“dew”), Danish dug (“dew”), Norwegian Bokmål dugg (“dew”), Norwegian Nynorsk dogg (“dew”), Swedish dagg (“dew”), Icelandic dögg (“dew”) and Faroese døgg (“dew”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /djuː/
  • IPA(key): /dʒuː/ (among those with Yod-coalescence in stressed syllables)
  • (US) IPA(key): /du/ (among those with Yod-dropping)
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (UK)(file)
Dew on a spider web
  • Homophones: due, do, doo (US, some dialects)
  • Homophone: Jew (UK, some dialects)

Noun

dew (countable and uncountable, plural dews)

  1. (uncountable) moisture in the air that settles on plants, etc in the morning, resulting in drops.
  2. (countable, but see usage notes) an instance of such moisture settling on plants, etc.
    There was a heavy dew this morning.
  3. (uncountable) Any moisture from the atmosphere condensed by cool bodies upon their surfaces.
  4. (figuratively) Anything that falls lightly and in a refreshing manner.
    • Shakespeare
      The golden dew of sleep.
  5. An emblem of morning, or fresh vigour.
    • Longfellow
      The dew of his youth.

Usage notes

  • Although the countable sense is still used, the plural form is now archaic or poetic only.

Synonyms

  • (moisture settling on plants): rore (obsolete)

Translations

Verb

dew (third-person singular simple present dews, present participle dewing, simple past and past participle dewed)

  1. To wet with, or as if with, dew; to moisten.
    • A. B. Saxton
      The grasses grew / A little ranker since they dewed them so.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

From adéu.

Interjection

dew

  1. (Internet slang) bye

Cornish

Cornish cardinal numbers
 <  1 2 3  > 
    Cardinal : dew

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *dọw, from Proto-Celtic *dwau, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Numeral

dew

  1. (cardinal) two

See also

  • (cardinal number): Previous: onan. Next: tri

Mutation

Welsh

Pronunciation

Adjective

dew

  1. Soft mutation of tew.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
tew dew nhew thew
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Zazaki

Etymology

Compare Persian ده‎ (deh).

Noun

dew ?

  1. village

Declension

See also

  • dewıc
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