dew

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 West Frisian dau, North Frisian dauw (“dew”), Dutch dauw (“dew”), Low German Dau, German Tau (“dew”), Danish dug (“dew”), Norwegian Bokmål dugg (“dew”), Norwegian Nynorsk dogg (“dew”), Swedish dagg (“dew”), Icelandic dögg (“dew”) and Faroese døgg (“dew”).

The verb is from Middle English dewyn, dewen, from the noun above.

• IPA^(key): /djuː/
• IPA^(key): /dʒuː/ (among those with yod-coalescence in stressed syllables)
• (US) IPA^(key): /du/ (among those with yod-dropping)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Dew on a spider web

• Homophone: due
• Homophones: do, doo (US, some dialects)
• Homophone: Jew (UK, Australia, some dialects)

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, resulting in drops.

   Synonym: rore (obsolete)

   • 2013, Warren Ellis; Nick Cave (lyrics), “We No Who U R”, in 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.

4. (figuratively) Anything that falls lightly and in a refreshing manner.
   • Shakespeare

     the golden dew of sleep

5. An emblem of morning, or fresh vigour.
   • Longfellow

     the dew of his youth

• Although the countable sense is still used, the plural form is now archaic or poetic only.

• dew point

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.
   • A. B. Saxton

     The grasses grew / A little ranker since they dewed them so.

• bedew

• Wed, Wed., we'd, wed

From adéu.

dew

1. (Internet slang) bye

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

dew

1. two

• dyw

• (cardinal number): Previous: onan. Next: tri

From Old English dēaw, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz, *dawwą.

• deu, dewe, deaw, deau, dewȝ, dæw, deew, dieuȝ

• IPA^(key): /dɛu̯/
• Rhymes: -ɛu̯

dew (plural dewes)

1. dew; moisture present on plants.
2. (figuratively) A rejuvenating substance.
3. (rare) Sodden or water-soaked terrain.

• dewy
• dewyn
• dewynge

• English: dew
• Scots: dew, deow, dyow
• Yola: dhew

• “deu (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-12.

From Old French deü.

dew

1. Alternative form of dewe (“due”)

dew

1. Alternative form of dewe (“due”)

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /deːu̯/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /dɛu̯/

dew

1. Soft mutation of tew.

Compare Persian ده‎ (deh).

dew ?

1. village

• dewıc