Hewen

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. To shape or cut down by striking with a sharp tool such as an axe or sword; to carve or fashion by chopping or hacking away material; to chop or fell something by repeated blows with a cutting instrument
2. To make or form by cutting or chopping with a heavy blade; to strike forcibly to fashion or reshape an object from wood or stone; to lop or trim by hacking with an edged weapon
3. To produce a shape by striking with a sharp instrument; to cut or sculpt by repeated blows removing pieces; to fell or hew down by chopping or hacking vigorously

Etymology: "Hewen" is simply the past participle of "hew", so its story is really the story of "hew". That verb descends from Old English "hēawan", which goes back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning to strike. The same root produced German "hauen", Dutch "houwen", Swedish "hugga" and Icelandic "höggva", all still meaning to chop or cut, so the sense of hard blows has stayed remarkably stable across the Germanic languages for well over a thousand years. The verb also has a neat specialised offshoot. Its third sense comes from the phrase "hew to the line", meaning to cut evenly with an axe or saw by following a marked guideline. Carpenters and stonemasons worked this way, and the phrase gave the verb a sense of precision and fidelity to a set path, which is why "to hew to" a rule or principle still carries that flavour.

Synonyms: carved, chipped, cut, shaped, sculpted

Antonyms: built, assembled, constructed, erected, raised