Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sewel

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.28 in modern English

Syllables
sewel
IPA
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A scarecrow, generally made of feathers tied to a string, hung up to prevent deer from breaking into a place.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Early Middle English sheueles (“scarecrow”) [and other forms]; probably from Old English *scīewels, from sċīen (“to be frightened or startled; to recoil in fear”) (from Proto-West Germanic *skiuhijan (“to dread; to avoid, shun”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“frightened; bashful, coy, shy, timid; cautious, reserved”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-, *skūbʰ- (“to drive, move forward, push”) or *(s)kewH- (“to cover; to hide”)) + -els (suffix forming masculine nouns). Doublet of shy. Cognates * Middle English asheuelen, asheulen (verb) * Middle Low German schūwelse * Middle High German schiusel, schusel (modern German Scheusal (“beast; monster”)) * Old High German sciuhen (Middle High German schiuhen, schiuwen, German scheuen (“to scare”))

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *(s)kewH-, sheueles, *scīewels, *skiuhijan, *skeuhaz, *skewbʰ-

Inflected Forms

sewels (plural) shewel (alternative)

Questions

What does sewel mean?
A scarecrow, generally made of feathers tied to a string, hung up to prevent deer from breaking into a place.
Where does sewel come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce sewel

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sewel”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sewel”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “sewel” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.