Pa. t. sowed, Pa. pple. sowed, sown. Forms: (see below). [Common Teut., but presenting considerable variation in form, and changes of conjugation; the chief forms are OE. sáwan, OFris. *siâ (NFris. sîn, se, EFris. sâi), MDu. saeyen, zaeyen (Du. zaaien), OS. sâian (MLG. seien, seigen, segen, LG. seien, saien), OHG. sâjan, sâhen, sâen (MHG. sæjen, sæhen, sæn, G. säen) and sâwen (MHG. sæwen, sêwen), ON. and Icel. sá (Norw. and Da. saa, Sw. så), Goth. saian. The Teut. root *sǣ- (cf. SEED sb.) has counterparts in Lith. séti, OSlav. sejati, L. serĕre (perf. sēvi) to sow, and perh. in Gr. ἴημι.
The original reduplicating conjugation is retained in the Goth. pa. t. saisō, ON. pa. t. sera, pa. pple. sáinn (MSw. sāin), OE. pa. t. séow, pa. pple. ʓesáwen, OS. pa. t. sêu (once), OFris. pa. pple. esên. Transference to the weak conjugation has taken place in all the continental languages (as OHG. sâta, OS. sâida, late ON. sáða); in English the pa. t. has become weak, the pa. pple. still commonly retains the strong form.]
A. Illustration of forms.
1. Inf. (and Pres. stem). α. 1–2 sawan (2 sæwæn), 2–3 sawen (sewen), 4 zawen; 2, 4–6 sawe, 4, 6 Sc. sau, 5– Sc. (and north.) saw (5 Sc. say); also 5 Sc. schau, schaw(e.
c. 825–. [see examples in B].
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 147. Hie hiden wepende and sewende.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6839. Your land yee sal sau seuen yeir.
1340. Ayenb., 214. Huo þanne ssolde erye and zawe.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxvii. (Machor), 906. Prechand & sawand godis sed. Ibid., xl. (Ninian), 133. To schau his seiyde.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxxii. 147. Þe folk … sawez na land.
c. 1440. Registr. Aberdon. (Maitl. Cl.), I. 250. Alsmekill land as a celdr of atis will schawe.
c. 1480. Henryson, Aganis Haisty Credence, 41. O wicket tung, sawand dissentioun.
1570. Levins, Manip., 45. To Sawe corne, seminare.
1581. J. Hamilton, Cath. Traict., in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.), 74. To sau … pernicious heresie.
c. 1639. Sir W. Mure, Ps. cvii. 37. The feilds they saw.
1785. Burns, Halloween, xviii. Hemp-seed I saw thee.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., viii. They … might be for sawing the craft wi’ aits.
β. 3–4 sowen (3 souin), 4 souwen, 5 sowyn; 3–7 sowe, 4 soghe, 6 soue, 6– sow (8 sew).
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 155. To sowen þe holie sed.
a. 1250. Prov. Ælfred, in O. E. Misc., 108. His sedes to sowen [v.r. souin].
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 10259. Ne þat bailif … ne soffrede hom nower come, To sowe.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 67. In þat cete my saȝes soghe alle aboute.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 59. I wol souwen hit my-self.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. xiii. 3. He that sowith, goth out to sowe his seed.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 466/1. Sowyn corne or oþer sedys, semino, sero.
1530. Palsgr., 725/2. I sowe corne.
1532. Galway Arch., 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 405. Whatsoever man … shall … soue any varyaunce.
1635. R. N., trans. Camden’s Hist. Eliz., I. 21. To sow Religion.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 2. When to sowe the Corn.
2. Past Tense. a. Strong. 1–2 seow (1 seawu), 1, 3–7, 8 dial. sew (3 siew, 5 seew), 4–5, 7 sewe (9 Sc. shewe), 3–4 seuȝ (4 seeuȝh, segh), 3–4, 6 seu, 4 sue; pl. 1 seowun, -on, -an, sewon, 3 seowen, sowen, 3–5 sewen; 3 seowe, sew, 4–7 sewe.
c. 825. [see B. 2].
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xiii. 39. Ðe fiond,… seðe sawes vel seawu, ða is diowl.
971. Blickl. Hom., 3. Se Halʓa Gast seow þæt clæne sæd.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 133. A riche mon ferde ut and seow.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 151. [He] siew þo on wowe. Ibid. Þe sed þat he sew.
c. 1250. Hymn, Ibid. 256. Þe holi gost hire on þe seuȝ.
c. 1275. Moral Ode, 23, in O. E. Misc., 59. Hwenne alle men repen schule þat heo ear seowe.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 8048. Hym þat þis child on me sew.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 259. God repiþ many þingis þat he sue not.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, I. lxxiv. (1869), 43. She brouhte the greyn … and seew it.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, XII. ix. 47. His fader eyrit and sew ane peice of feild.
1565. Wills & Inv. N. C. (Surtees, 1835), 244. Because I seu no winter corne ther.
1641. Best, Farm. Bks. (Surtees), 56. Wee sewe nothinge but onely our In-field.
a. 1800. Pegge, Anecd. Eng. Lang. (1803), 105. I sew … my corn.
b. Weak. α. 4 sceued, 4, 9 Sc. sawed, 4 sawit.
[c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xiii. 25. Ofer-ʓeseawu vel ʓeseawde. Ibid., Luke xix. 21. Þæt ðu ne ʓesaudesd.]
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21226. O godds word he sceued þe sede. Ibid. (c. 1375), 12323 (Fairf.). Þe quete … at ihesus sawed.
1820. Scott, Monast., xiii. About the last barley ye sawed.
β. 4 sowid(e, 6– -sowed, 7 sowd.
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xxvi. 12. Isaac forsothe sowide in that loond.
1535. Coverdale, Deut. xi. 10. Where thou sowedest thy sede.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 91. The Arrians sowed abroade their opinions.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 358. He … sowd with Starrs the Heav’n.
3. Past Participle. a. Strong. α. 1 ʓesauen, ʓi-, 1–2 ʓesawen, 4 y-zawe; 1, 4–6 sawen, 3 sauen (saȝin), 4 sau(u)n, 4, 6 Sc. sawin, 5 Sc. sawyn(e, -ing, 5, 9 Sc. and north. sawn, 6–7 Sc. sawne; 4 sewe, 6 Sc. saw.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark iv. 15. Seðe ymb woeʓ ðer bið ʓesauen [Rushw. ʓisawen] word.
971. Blickl. Hom., 133. Þa wæs heora lar sawen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28174. O strif oft haue i sauun þe sede.
1340. Ayenb., 255. Yef hit ys hol oþer aboue y-zawe [= F. sursemée].
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 445. Vile sede of man with syn sawen.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xl. (Ninian), 203. Þare he saw sawyne il seide.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 420. A man þat had lande to be sawen.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, XI. 1226. Feill off that kyn, in Scotland than was sawyn.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, IV. Prol. 8. In fragill flesche ȝour fekill seid is saw.
1570. Levins, Manip., 62. Sawen, satus.
c. 1629. Sir W. Mure, Sonn., iv. Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 302. If once the seed of true Repentance sawne.
1876. Robinson, Whitby Gloss., s.v., Sawn,… sown as grain.
β. 3–4 i-, 4–5 y-sowe, 4–5 sowe; 3 i-, 4–5 y-sowen, 3–7 sowen, 5 sowun, 5–7 sowme, 4, 6– sown.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 1129. Þar newe sedes beoþ isowe.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 4537 (Kölbing). No corn no was ysowe.
1382. Wyclif, Lev. xxvii. 16. If … the feelde is sowun.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., I. 165. Rie of whete ysowen wul vp growe.
c. 1450[?]. Songs, Carols, etc. (1907), 81. The sede of synne so thyke ys sowe.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 10. That … styffe grounde … wolde be sowen with bigge stuffe.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. ix. 16. True Loues are often sown.
1608. Dod & Cleaver, Expos. Prov. ix.–x. 29. Some is sowne before others,… some is sowen after others.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., Ess., The Precepts … are sown so very thick.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VII. 353. A furrow which has been newly sown.
1837. P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 23. Wheat sown in the spring lives but six months.
b. Weak. 4 i-sowed, 5 sowid, 5, 7– sowed, 6 sowd, 7–8 sow’d.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VI. 34. I haue … I-sowed his seed.
1382. Wyclif, Num. xx. 5. This worst place, that may not be sowid.
1596. Spenser, Hymn Heav. Beauty, 53. The house of blessed Gods,… All sowd with glistring stars.
1656. A. Wright, Five Serm., 126. The seed sowed in good ground.
1759. R. Brown, Compl. Farmer, 119. Your corn should be sowed on broad ridges.
1844. S. Wilberforce, Hist. Prot. Episc. Ch. Amer. (1846), 63. It was ploughed up and sowed.
B. Signification.
1. intr. or absol. To perform the action of scattering or depositing seed on or in the ground so that it may grow. Also fig. and in fig. context.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter cxxv. 5. Ða sawað in tearum, in ʓefian hie reopað.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxv. 24. Ðu hripes ðer ðu ne sawes.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. vi. 26. Behealdað heofonan fuʓlas, forþam þe hiʓ, ne sawað ne hiʓ ne ripað.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 131. Þe ðe saweð on blescunge he scal mawen of blescunge.
c. 1205. Lay., 10032. Heo tileden, heo seowen, heo repen, heo meowen.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 1039. Hit wes isayd … Þat mon schal eryen & sowe, Þar he weneþ after god mowe.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VIII. 6. Al þat euere hulpen him to heren or to sowen.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., ii. 124. When I shuld saw, & wantyd seyde.
c. 1500. God Speed the Plough (Skeat), 2. As I me walked ouer feldis wide When men began to Ere and to Sowe.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 92. As thou hast reaped where an other hath sowen.
1591. Harington, Orl. Fur., Pref. ¶ ix b. For as men vse to sow with the hand and not with the whole sacke.
1663. S. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xxxiii. (1687), 404. The birds … who neither sow nor reap.
1687. Ayres, Lyric Poems (1906), 306. [I] Plough water, sow on rocks, and reap the wind.
1785. Burns, Death & Dr. Hornbook, viii. Hae ye been mawin, When ither folk are busy sawin?
1842. Loudon, Suburban Hort., 623. For a late summer and autumn crop, sow in the end of February.
1865. Ruskin, Sesame, ii. § 95. The path-sides where He has sown.
2. trans. To scatter seed on or upon (land, etc.) in order that it may grow; to supply with seed.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter cvi. 37. [Hie] seowun lond.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxiii. Swa hwa swa wille sawan westmbære land.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Lev. xix. 19. Ne saw þu þinne æcyr mid ʓemengedum sæde.
a. 1250. Prov. Ælfred, 123. Þey o mon ahte huntseuenti Acres, and he hi hadde isowen alle myd reade golde. And þat gold greowe [etc.].
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 10195. Þe king þo … vorbed þat me ne ssolde non of is lond sowe.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter cvi. 37. Þai sew feldis and þai plantid vyners.
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xlvii. 23. Takith seedis, and sowith feeldis, that ȝe mowen han lyuelodis.
1456–70. in Acts Parlt. Scot. (1875), XII. 26/2. The lardis of Meldrum has gart eyre and saw owr said landis of Canty.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 23. After that he tempereth it with dong, than eareth it, soweth it, and haroweth it.
1577. B. Googe, trans. Heresbach’s Husb., 45. When you meane to let your ground lye again for Meddowe or Pasture, your best is to sowe it with Oates.
1660. in Verney Mem. (1907), II. 158. I shall want a little hay dust to sow the holes in the parsnage yard.
1735. Johnson, Lobo’s Abyssinia, Descr. i. 47. They neither Sow their Lands, nor improve them by any kind of Culture.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., Aug., 298. Cost and Profit of Clearing and Sowing with Wheat 10 Acres of Intervale Land.
1846. J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), I. 177. In a field of eleven acres,… the whole was sowed with barley.
transf. and fig. c. 1420. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1023. Sensualyte … sewe the felde with hys vnkynde seede That causyd Vertu aftyr mykyll woo to feele.
1607. Shaks., Timon, IV. i. 29. Itches, Blaines, Sowe all th’ Athenian bosomes.
1615. W. Bedwell, trans. Moham. Impost., II. § 70. Euery man doth sow his wife.
1819. Shelley, Mask of Anarchy, lxix. The daily strife … Which sows the human heart with tares.
b. To strew or sprinkle (land, etc.) with something as in the sowing of seed. Also fig.
1611. Bible, Judges ix. 45. And Abimelech … beat downe the citie, and sowed it with salt.
1759. R. Brown, Compl. Farmer, 115. If once in four or five years you sow it with soot, it will increase it very much.
1831. Scott, Ct. Robt., xxi. The whole mad crew … will return with fire and sword to burn down Constantinople, and sow with salt the place where it stood.
1838. Lytton, Alice, III. X. iii. 177. He urged on the horses—he sowed the road with gold.
c. Of seed: To be sufficient for (a certain area).
c. 1440. [see A. 1].
1685. W. Penn, Furth. Acc. Pennsylv., 7. The Land requires less seed: Three Pecks of Wheat sow an Acre.
1761. Descr. of S. Carolina, 70. About a Gallon of Indian Corn sows an Acre.
3. To cover or strew (a place, etc.) thickly with (also † of) something. Chiefly in pa. pple.: Thickly strewn or dotted with something.
(a) c. 1400. Pilgr. Sowle, V. v. (1859), 75. This corowne is ful sowen of precious stones.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 18284. Withe lesyngs, (who lyst know,) vp and downe it is y-sowe.
c. 1500. Melusine, xxxvi. 288. They thenne departed,… & fond in theire way the feldes sowen with sarasyns deed.
c. 1611. Chapman, Iliad, VI. (1887), 92. When … he leaves the conquered field Sown with his slaughters.
1658. Dryden, Cromwell, xiv. Thick as the Galaxy with Stars is sown.
1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., II. 132. Beyond that, there is hardly any thing to be found but Desarts sowed with stones.
1759. Ann. Reg., 52. All this sea is sown thick with sands and shoals.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, Prol. 55. For all the sloping pasture murmur’d, sown With happy faces and with holiday. Ibid. (1864), Aylmer’s Field, 158. A close-set robe of jasmine sown with stars.
(b) 1613. Donne, Poems (1633), 124. [It] sowes the Court with starres.
1700. S. L., trans. Fryke’s Voy. E. Ind. 88. We … made the place so hot for ’em, and sowed the ground so thick with their dead Bodies.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., lxxii. Whirl the ungarner’d sheaf afar, And sow the sky with flying boughs.
4. To scatter or deposit (seed) on or in the ground, etc., for growth, usually by the action of the hand; to place or put (seed) in the ground; to plant (a crop) in this way.
To sow one’s wild oats: see OAT sb. 4.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 22. ʓenim tuncersan sio þe self weaxeð & mon ne sæwð.
a. 1100. Gerefa, in Anglia, IX. 262. Beana sawan.
a. 1250. Prov. Ælfred, 93. Þat … þe cheorl beo in fryþ his sedes to sowen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12325. O quete a littel sede, Apon þe feld he-self it seu.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VIII. 139. Sedes þat were i-sowe fordried in þe erþe.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., XIII. 15. The letuse in this moone is so to sowe.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 12. It is necessarye to declare, howe all maner of corne shuld be sowen.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 31. Cleane rie that sowes, the better crop mowes.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. xx. 186. The want they have of bread, is countervailed with the rootes they sowe.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 2. When to turn The fruitful Soil, and when to sowe the Corn.
1750. W. Ellis, Mod. Husbandm., I. ii. 50. They sow [horse-beans] first broad-cast over the ground, and then plow them in: this, as we call it, being sown under furrow.
1816. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 681. Sow spinach; earth up celery and broccoli.
1850. McCosh, Div. Govt., II. ii. (1874), 200. He is a husbandman and about to sow the crops which are to be his sustenance.
1908. [Miss Fowler], Betw. Trent & Ancholme, 21. We sowed and planted Wall-flowers and Stone-crop upon it.
refl. 1842. Tennyson, Gardener’s Dau., 65. A crowd of hopes, That sought to sow themselves like winged seeds.
b. transf. with reference to fish, bacilli, etc.
1854. Badham, Halieut., 42. See … how gluttony, and a desire to please a dainty tooth, have devised means to sow fish, and to stock the sea with strange bread.
1861. Hulme, trans. Moquin-Tandon, II. III. 169. As far back as the time of Rondelet, the art of sowing these molluscs [sc. oysters] was known.
1898. P. Manson, Trop. Diseases, viii. 148. When [the plague bacillus is] sown on blood serum…, an abundant, moist, yellowish-grey growth is formed.
5. a. Used with seed (and some other terms) in transf. and fig. senses.
(a) 971. Blickl. Hom., 3. Se Halʓa Gast seow þæt clæne sæd on þone unbesmitenan innoþ.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 445. He was geten … Of vile sede of man with syn sawen.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 189. Than suld … nocht sa mekle bastard seid [be] Throw out this cuntrie sawin.
(b) c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 534. ʓif we eow þa gastlican sæd sawaþ, hwonlic biþ þæt we eowere flæsclican þing ripon.
c. 1200. Ormin, 5071. Þatt dæþess laþe sed Þatt deofless æfre sawenn … Inn ure sawless wille.
a. 1225. Juliana, 74. Ant reope we of þat ripe sed þat we seowen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21226. In all þe stedes quar he yede, O godds word he sceued þe sede.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xl. (Ninian), 203. Þare he saw sawyne il seide, to distroy it he cane hyme spede.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 4404. To sawe emang þir simpill men sedis of debate.
c. 1480. Henryson, Test. Cress., 137. The seede of loue was sowen on my face.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 23 b. To haue great profyte and encrease of our sede, that we haue so sowen for his loue.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 194. I am in belief (I may peraduenture sowe my seede in the sande) that [etc.].
1648. Hunting Fox, 14. The tares of sedition which these envious men had sowen.
1813. W. Coxe, Mem. Kings of Spain, I. *29. This celebrated act, which has been termed the treaty of the Pyrenees, sowed the germ of future wars.
1868. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1877), II. vii. 30. In all this the seeds of the Conquest were sowing.
b. Contrasted with reap in fig. uses.
See also quots. c. 1000 and a. 1225 above. The usage (as in sense 1) is derived from various Biblical passages, e.g., Hos. viii. 7, Galat. vi. 7. For similar examples with mow, See MOW v. 1 b.
1382. Wyclif, Pref. Ep. St. Jerome, vii. 71/1. Aggeus,… the whiche sewe in teres that he repe in ioy.
c. 1421. 26 Pol. Poems, 100. Eche dedly synne is a dedly knyf; For he shal repe þat he sewe. Ibid., 113. Man … Makeþ moche of hymself, sayþe al is oures, And repeth þat he neuere ne sewe.
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., 185. Quhat so euer a man saues the same sal he raipe, for quha sawes in his flesh he sal sheer corruption of the flesh.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., III. i. 381. Why then from Ireland come I with my strength, And reape the Haruest which that Rascall sow’d.
1823. Lamb, Elia, II. Pref. He sowed doubtful speeches, and reaped plain, unequivocal hatred.
1878. B. Taylor, Deukalion, II. iii. 74. What Darkness sowed the Light shall reap.
6. fig. To disseminate or spread; to endeavor to propagate or extend. In various contexts.
(a) c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxvii. Se eorðlica anweald næfre ne sæwð þa cræftas, ac … gadrað unðeawas.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 155. Ure helend saweð his holie word hwile þurh his haȝen muð hwile þurh his apostles.
13[?]. Know Thyself, 58, in E. E. Poems (1862), 131. His grace is so wide isowe.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xi. (Simon & Jude), 404. Quhen þe apostolis had al-quhare In þat land sawyne goddis lare.
1552. Abp. Hamilton, Catech. (1884), 26. The word that is plantit or sawin amongis yow.
1573. Satir. Poems Reform., xlii. 898. Þe richt meanis … Ouir all to haue the Gospell sawin.
1607. Hieron, Wks., I. 157. Light is sowen for the righteous, and ioy for the vpright in heart.
1839. trans. Lamartine’s Trav. East, 72/1. Their voyage to Greece and Italy, to sow the Gospel.
(b) c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., 356. Aworpen mon … on ælce tid saweð wrohte.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 642. Þe synne of hem þat sowen and maken discord.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.), 91. Whilk amanges neghburghs discordes to sawe makes hym bisy.
1526. Skelton, Magnyf., 189. Measure and I wyll neuer be deuydyd For no dyscorde than any man can sawe.
1562. Winȝet, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 77, note. The seditious personis sawis schisme and diuisioun.
1581. Satir. Poems Reform., xliv. 83. Sathan … To rais his kingdome tentation did sau Into þe hairtis of men in all degrie.
1663. S. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xxxvii. (1687), 493. Let not the evil one … sow this jealousie in your heart.
1720. Ozell, trans. Vertot’s Rom. Rep., II. XIV. 327. A Counsel which would sow Division in the contrary Party.
a. 1770. Jortin, Serm. (1771), I. iii. 49. Those who teach false doctrines to sew dissension amongst them.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. I. xi. Between the best of Peoples and the best of Restorer Kings they would sow grudges.
1878. Stubbs, Const. Hist., III. xviii. 106. He [Gloucester] … attempted to sow discord in his brother’s council.
(c) 1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxv. 137. Also there were wordes sowen through all the towne, howe [etc.].
1560. J. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 5. Martin Luther…, who soweth newe opinions in Germany.
1628–9. Digby, Voy. Medit. (Camden), 30. Some ill-disposed persons … tooke occasion to sowe mutinous discourses.
1859. Tennyson, Marriage of Geraint, 450. He sow’d a slander in the common ear. Ibid. (1877), Harold, IV. i. Who sow’d this fancy here among the people?
(d) 1531. Elyot, Gov. (1580), 57. The necessities, which fortune soweth among menne that be mortall.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., III. i. 158. We are to cure such sorrowes, not to sowe ’em.
1823. Lamb, Elia, II. Tombs in Abbey. The antiquarian spirit … may have been sown in you among those wrecks of splendid mortality.
1849. Blackw. Mag., LXVI. 627. Can you believe … that the word of the Third Witch, ‘thou shalt be King Hereafter,’ sows the murder in Macbeth’s heart?
† 7. To beget (a child). Obs. rare.
c. 1250. Long Life, 33, in O. E. Misc., 158. Or fole fulþe þu art isowe, Wormes fode þu schald beo.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 8048. Y ne sey … Hym þat þis child on me sew.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 3424 (Trin.). Þe gode childre geten of grace … whenne þei coom, wel is knowe þat þei of goddes grace are sowe.
8. To scatter after the manner of seed; to sprinkle, throw or spread about, in this way.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 125. Abymelech … destroyed þat place … and sewe salt þerynne, for þe lond schulde na more bere fruit and corne. Ibid., 339. Also powder of erþe of þat lond i-sowe in oþer londes vseþ awey wormes.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 12920. Many a knyȝt was ouer-throwen, Her bodies lay thik sawen.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, I. viii. (1554), 11 b. His child dismembred and abrode ysowe.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., XI. (Percy Soc.), 38. What avayleth evermore to sowe The precyous stones amonge gruntynge hogges?
1513. Douglas, Æneid, VII. x. 28. Armouris, suerdis, speris and scheildis, I sall do saw and strow our all the feyldis.
1668. Culpepper & Cole, Barthol. Anat., I. xv. 38. The Gall-bladder hath received very many small Passages, furnished with sundry little twigs, sowed up and down in the Liver.
1726. Shelvocke, Voy. round World, 373. They were astonish’d to see my people so thin sown, our scanty number not making any manner of show in so large a ship as ours.
1837. Marryat, Dog-fiend, i. With lank hair very thinly sown upon a head which [etc.].
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 171. Not sowing hedgerow texts and passing by, Nor dealing goodly counsel from a height.
b. To distribute or disperse. Obs. rare.
c. 1350. Leg. Rood (1871), 90. And sethin als wide als þai er saun Has no iew hous of his awyn.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, IV. 685. Bot thai prophetis so thyn ar sawin, That thair in erd now nane is knawin.
1382. Wyclif, Zech. x. 9. Y shal sowe hem in peplis.
1535. Coverdale, Ibid. I wil sowe them amonge the people.
† 9. Sc. To shed (blood). Obs.–1
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., I. 303. Wemen … sall nocht … draw abak quhair mekill blude is sawin.
Hence Sowed, Sowing ppl. adjs.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. xiii. 18. Therfore heere ȝe the parable of the sowynge man.
1733. W. Ellis, Chiltern & Vale Farm., 205. This Mischief happens oftner to the latter sowed Wheat.
1876. Meredith, Beauch. Career, xxix. Moveless do they seem to you? Why, so is the earth to the sowing husbandman.
