Stewen

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To cook food slowly by simmering it in liquid ; to bathe or sweat in a heated steam room, as was done in medieval bathhouses
2. Cooking something gently for a long time in a covered pot with liquid ; taking a hot steam bath in a heated chamber to relax or cleanse
3. Simmering food in its own juices or a broth until tender ; sitting in a hot, damp bath house to sweat and bathe in vapour

Etymology: Before it meant anything to do with cooking, this word meant a steam bath. It comes from Old French "estuve", a heated room or bath, which goes back to a Germanic word related to Old High German "stuba", also a heated room. English borrowed the term, and in Middle English the verb "stewen" meant to bathe or sweat in steam. The bathhouse link took a notorious turn. Public bathhouses often doubled as brothels, so "stews" came to mean brothels, and the district of Southwark in London, where many were concentrated, was known as the Stews. The cooking sense is generally linked to the idea of heating something slowly in a closed vessel, which is close to the steam bath's original sense of heat held in an enclosed space.