Sowe

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. To scatter seed over soil so that new plants will grow ; a mature female pig kept for breeding on a farm
2. Planting seed by scattering it across a field for a crop ; an adult female hog, often kept to produce piglets
3. Spreading seeds onto the earth to start a crop ; a grown female swine, typically raised on farms for its litters

Etymology: Middle English writers spelled the verb "sow," to scatter seed, and the noun "sow," the female pig, in several ways, and "sowe" was one of them. The two words came from different Old English roots. The verb descends from "sāwan," and the animal from "sugu," so the spelling merged two unrelated words that happened to look alike. The pig's name is the older and more widely shared of the two, with cognates in other Germanic languages such as German "Sau." In the verb, the forms of "sāwan" also ended up with a past participle "sawn," which is why "sown" is the modern participle. Modern English keeps the two words apart in pronunciation and spelling, though the merged form survives in dialect and historical texts.