Shewen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic past participle of show, meaning having been displayed, exhibited or made visible to others
2. Archaic form of the past participle of show, describing something that has been revealed or demonstrated
3. Old-fashioned past participle of the verb show, indicating that something has been made plain or put on view

Etymology: "Shewen" is an older past participle of "shew," the Middle English and early modern form of "show." English speakers once used it the way they now use "shown," as in "has shewen" or "had shewen," so the word simply preserves an earlier spelling of the same verb. Because "shew" and "show" were spelled interchangeably for centuries, the two forms were never really separate words. The "w" spelling was standard in the Bible and other early printed works, which helps explain why the older participle survives in older texts and in some deliberately archaic writing.