theow
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Etymology
From Middle English theu, thewe (“servant; one bound in service to another, serf; disciple or servant of God; created being; servant of the devil; (figuratively) servant to sin, wealth, etc.”) [and other forms], from Old English þēow, þēo (“servant; slave”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *þeu (“slave”), from Proto-Germanic *þewaz, *þegwaz (“servant; slave”), from Proto-Indo-European *tekwos (“runner”), from Proto-Indo-European *tekʷ- (“to run; to flow”). Cognates * Dutch dienen (“to serve”) * German dienen (“to serve”) * Gothic 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐍃 (þius, “bondman, slave; servant”) * Old English þegn (“servant; minister; vassal”) * Old High German dio (“unfree”), diu (“servant”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *tekʷ-, theu, þēow, *þeu, *þewaz, *tekwos