sewel
English
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sewel
Where it comes from
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”))
noun sewels · shewel
- A scarecrow, generally made of feathers tied to a string, hung up to prevent deer from breaking into a place. Their sewels are made by tying a tassel of birch rind , formed like the wing of a paper kite , to the small end of a slight stick , about six feet in length. These sticks are pricked into the ground about ten or a dozen yards apart
Talk about this word "sewel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sewel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sewel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sewel "sewel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sewel.Cite this
@misc{sewel_2026,
title = {sewel},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sewel},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
