Shewe

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of show, meaning to display, reveal or demonstrate something to others so that it can be seen or understood
2. Old form of the verb show, used to mean to exhibit, point out or make something visible to someone
3. Obsolete variant of show, signifying to present, reveal or prove something through visible display or explanation

Etymology: "Shewe" is simply an obsolete spelling of "show," so its story is really the story of "show." The verb comes from Middle English "schewen," which descends from Old English "scēawian," meaning "to look, look at, exhibit, display." That Old English verb traces back through Proto-Germanic to a very old root meaning "to heed, look, feel, take note of," the same root that gave Latin "caveō," the source of English "caution" and "caveat." So a word we now use for putting something on display began as a word about looking carefully. The "look" sense is still visible in the family. Scots "shaw," Dutch "schouwen" (to inspect), German "schauen" (to see), and Danish "skue" (to behold) all preserve the older idea of looking at something. The English word kept the sense of exhibiting or displaying something to be seen, while the sense of simply looking gradually receded.

Synonyms: show, display, demonstrate, reveal, exhibit

Antonyms: hide, conceal, obscure