Wiktionary

dew

See also: DEW and dew-

English

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Pronunciation

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Dew on a spider web

Etymology 1

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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 German Tau, Dutch dauw and Afrikaans dou. Doublet of dag.

Noun

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dew (countable and uncountable, plural dews)

  1. (uncountable) Any moisture from the atmosphere condensed by cool bodies upon their surfaces.
  2. (uncountable) Moisture in the air that settles on plants, etc in the morning or evening, resulting in drops.
    Synonym: (obsolete) rore
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 6:36–40:
      And Gideon said vnto God, If thou wilt saue Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
      Beholde, I will put a fleece of wooll in the floore: and if the deaw be on the fleece onely, and it bee drie vpon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt saue Israel by my hande, as thou hast said.
      And it was so: for he rose vp early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the deaw out of the fleece, a bowle full of water.
      And Gideon said vnto God, Let not thine anger be hote against me, and I will speake but this once: Let mee prooue, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece. Let it now be drie onely vpon the fleece, and vpon all the ground let there be deaw.
      And God did so that night: for it was drie vpon the fleece onely, and there was deaw on all the ground.
    • 2013, “We No Who U R”, in Warren Ellis, Nick Cave (lyrics), Push the Sky Away, performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:
      Tree don't care what the little bird sings / We go down with the dew in the morning light / The tree don't know what the little bird brings / We go down with the dew in the morning
  3. (countable, but see usage notes) An instance of such moisture settling on plants, etc.
    There was a heavy dew this morning.
    • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 72:
      On their entrance, Aylmer was greeted by a new surprise—his daughter Lucy, whom he very naturally supposed was quietly in her bed, lay on the window-seat, the casement open, and herself asleep; but the traces of tears were upon her cheek, and her long fair hair loose, and yet saturated with the dews of the night.
  4. (figurative) Anything that falls lightly and in a refreshing manner.
  5. (figurative) An emblem of morning, or fresh vigour.
Usage notes
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  • Although the countable sense is still used, the plural form is now archaic or poetic only.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English dewe, dewyn, from Old English *dēawian, from Proto-West Germanic *dauwēn, from Proto-Germanic *dawwāną. Cognates include Saterland Frisian daue, German tauen and Dutch dauwen.

Verb

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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.
    • 1887, Andrew B. Saxton, “Sunken Graves”, in The Century:
      The grasses grew / A little ranker since they dewed them so.
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Translations
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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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From adeu.

Interjection

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dew

  1. (Internet slang) bye

Cornish

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Cornish cardinal numbers
 <  1 2 3  > 
    Cardinal : dew
    Ordinal : nessa
    Feminine : diw

Etymology

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

Numeral

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dew m (feminine form diw)

  1. two

Mutation

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  Mutation of dew  
Cornish consonant mutation
unmutated soft aspirate hard mixed mixed after 'th
dew dhew unchanged tew tew tew

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Old English dēaw, from Proto-West Germanic *dauw, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz, *dawwą.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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dew (plural dewes)

  1. Dew; moisture present on plants.
  2. (figurative) A rejuvenating substance.
  3. (rare) Sodden or water-soaked terrain.
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • English: dew
  • Scots: dew, deow, dyow
  • Yola: dhew
References
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Etymology 2

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Adjective

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dew

  1. Alternative form of dewe (“due”)

Noun

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dew

  1. Alternative form of dewe (“due”)

Welsh

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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dew

  1. Soft mutation of tew.

Mutation

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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

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Etymology

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Compare Persian ده (deh).

Noun

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dew

  1. village

Declension

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declension of dew
singular (tekın) plural (zafın)
nominative (halo sade) dew dewi
definite accusative (moreyen) dewa dewan
dative (heteyen) dewe dewer
locative (vinayen) dewi(y)de dewande
ablative (abıryayen) dewra dewanra
genitive (tamleme) dew(i) dew(y)an

See also

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