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sinew

English

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sinew

  • /ˈsɪnjuː/ UK
  • /ˈsɪny/ Multicultural London English
  • /ˈsɪnju/ US
  • /ˈsɪnjʉː/ Australia

Where it comes from

From Middle English synwe, synewe (“tendon; ligament or other connective tissue; muscle; nerve; leaf vein”), from Old English sinu (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), from Proto-West Germanic *sinu, from Proto-Germanic *sinwō, from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”), from *(s)neh₁- (“to twist (threads), spin, weave”).

The word is cognate with sinnow (“sinew”), Scots senon, sinnon, Saterland Frisian Siene (“sinew”), West Frisian senuw, sine (“sinew; nerve”), Dutch zeen (“sinew”), Dutch zenuw (“nerve”), German Sehne (“tendon, sinew; cord”), Icelandic sin (“tendon”), Danish sene (“tendon, sinew”), Swedish sena (“sinew”), Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬁𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭 (snāuuar, “tendon, sinew”), Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “tendon; nerve; cord”), Latin nervus (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), Sanskrit स्नावन् (snāván, “sinew, tendon; muscle”), Tocharian B ṣñor (“sinew”). Doublet of nerve and neuron.

noun sinews · sinnew

  1. A cord or tendon of the body.
  2. A cord or string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
  3. figuratively Muscular power, muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength.
  4. figuratively, in plural, often That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting factor or member; mainstay. [S]he loſt a noble and renowned brother, in his loue toward her, euer moſt kinde and naturall: with him the portion and ſinew of her fortune, her marriage dowry: with both, her combynate-husband, this well-ſeeming Angelo.
  5. obsolete A nerve.

verb sinews · sinewing · sinewed

  1. transitive To knit together or make strong with, or as if with, sinews. And now to London with Triumphant march, / There to be crowned Englands Royall King: / From whence, ſhall Warwicke cut the Sea to France, / And aske the Ladie Bona for thy Queene: / So ſhalt thou ſinow both theſe Lands together, / And hauing France thy Friend, thou ſhalt not dread / The ſcattred Foe

Translations

Every language

noun muscular power, muscle; vigor, vigorous strength

DeutschMuskelkraft, Kraft, Stärke, Nervenstärke, Spannkraft
Italianonerbo
Românăvână

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MLA

"sinew." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sinew. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

sinew. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sinew

Chicago

"sinew." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sinew.

BibTeX
@misc{sinew_2026,
  title = {sinew},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sinew},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}