Forms: 1 tawian, 3 (Orm.) tawwenn, 3–4 tauwen, 4–6 tawe, 6– taw. [OE. tawian = MLG., MDu., Du. touwen, LG. tauen, töwwen to prepare (leather), to tan, to curry, OHG. zawjan, zowjan (MHG. zouwen, zöuwen) to prepare, make, Goth. taujan to do, make:—OTeut. *tawôjan and *tawjan; from a stem taw-, tôw-, not certainly found in pre-Germanic.]
1. trans. To make ready, prepare, or dress (some raw material) for use, or for further manipulation; e.g., to soften (hides) by beating, to heckle (hemp), etc.; † in early use, to till (land).
a. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., IV. xxix. (1890), 366. Þa bæd se Godes man þæt him man isern ȝeloman mid hwæte ðyder brohte þæt land mid to tawienne.
c. 1200. Ormin, 15903. All swa summ þe nowwt i ploh Þe turrnenn erþe & tawwenn.
1545. Rates of Customs, C v. Sylke tawe[d] and died the pounde viii s.
1555. W. Watreman, Fardle Facions, II. ix. 193. He … taweth the skinne betwixte his handes, vntill it become very souple and soft.
1628. Robin Goodfellow, II. (1841), 28. And whilst that they did nimbly spin, The hempe he needs must taw.
1651. Biggs, New Disp., Pref. 7. Being tawed open by wedge after wedge.
1861. Jrnl. Brit. Archæol. Assoc., March, 20. A slick-stone for tawing or softening hides by friction.
2. spec. To make (skins) into leather by steeping them, after suitable preparation, in a solution of alum and salt; the product is white and pliant, and is known as alum, white, or Hungarian leather.
(In early quots. not separable from sense 1.)
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 418. Þet heo [ower cloðes] beon unorne & warme, & wel i-wrouhte—uelles wel i-tauwed.
a. 1300. Sat. People Kildare, ix., in E. E. P. (1862), 254. Daþeit þe sotter þat tawiþ ȝure leþir.
c. 1410. Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), vi. Þe furrure … is not feyre; and also it stynketh euer, but if hit be wele ytawede.
1474. Coventry Leet Bk. (E.E.T.S.), 401. The sise of a whittawer is that he make nor tawe no maner of lether but Shepes lether, Gettes lethir, deris ledur, horse-lethir, or houndes-lether.
1560. Let., in Hakluyt, Voy. (1598), I. 307. If you send 100 of them [seal skins] tawed with the haire on, they will bee solde, or else not.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 45. The hides … being tawed and wrought artificially they make garments of them.
1613. Fletcher, etc., Captain, III. iii. Yes if they taw him as they do whit-leather Upon an iron.
1711. Lond. Gaz., No. 4862/4. Mills … where they shall Tan, Taw or Dress … any such Hides.
1877. Knight, Dich. Mech., Tawing, a process of tanning in which mineral agents are substituted for vegetable extracts.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 88/1. Carefully-prepared goal-skin, tanned, tawed, dyed, and grained.
† 3. fig. To treat (a person) abusively or with contumely; to vex, torment; to harass, afflict; to abuse, outrage, profane. Obs.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., IV. i. § 1. Þa þe þær ȝefongne wæron, hic tawedan mid þære mæstan unieðnesse.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Saints’ Lives (1890), II. 102. Forðan ðe he godes templ tawode to bysmore. Ibid. (c. 1000), Hom., II. 486. And se deotol eow tawode þurh his drymen.
a. 1023. Wulfstan, Hom., xxxiii. (Napier), 162. [Hi] scendað and tawjað to bysmore þæs þeȝnes cwenan and hwilum his dohtor.
13[?]. Minor Poems Fr. Vernon MS., liv. 76. To a piler I was I-piht, Togget and tauwed al þe niht.
1549. Chaloner, Erasm. on Folly, G ij. To be briefe, they are not towed nor plucked asunder with a thousand thousand cares.
b. To whip, flog, thrash. Obs. exc. dial.
1600. Holland, Livy, VIII. xxviii. 301. He caused him to be stripped naked, and whipping cheare to be presented unto him. The poore stripling thus pitteously tawed and torn, ran forth into the open street.
1614. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, IV. iv. You know where you were taw’d lately, both lash’d, and slash’d you were in Bridewell.
1682. D’Urfey, Butler’s Ghost, 43. Truss’d on her Knee she’d briskly taw him, And, like Virago, clapperclaw him.
1863. Sala, Capt. Dangerous, viii. I grew sick of being tawed for offences I had never committed.
1883. Cleland, Inchbracken, xvi. 126. I would have her tawed through the town at the cart’s tail.
