Sodewen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cook something by boiling or simmering it in liquid, an archaic usage of the kind found in older English texts
2. An old verb meaning to seethe or stew food slowly in water or broth until it is thoroughly cooked
3. Archaic term for boiling or simmering something in a liquid so that it becomes soft and fully cooked

Etymology: "Sodewen" is an obsolete Middle English form of the past participle of "seethe," the verb meaning to boil or simmer. Its Old English ancestor, "soden," came from "sēothan," which also gave us "seethe," and the participle is the source of modern "sodden," meaning thoroughly soaked. The "-en" ending was a common participial and plural marker in Middle English, which is why this form appears in texts from roughly that period. Its exact spread and dating are less well documented than those of its modern descendants, so the precise range of its use is uncertain.