Thewes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Sinewy muscles of the body, especially those of the limbs and shoulders ; the physical power and brawn that those muscles give a person
2. The brawny sinews or muscles visible on a strong body ; the bodily force and sturdy power that a muscular build provides
3. Strong sinews and muscular tissue in the body ; the raw physical might and vigor associated with a well-developed physique

Etymology: In Old English, "þēaw" meant a custom, habit, or manner of behaving. Something like "good thews" once described a person's moral conduct, not their build. Over the Middle English period the sense shifted toward the qualities that made a person capable and strong, and then toward the body itself, so that by the later Middle Ages the plural could mean muscles or sinews. The form "thewes" is an older spelling of the plural, the kind found in medieval and early modern texts. Modern dictionaries record the plural as "thews," and the noun survives mainly in set phrases such as "thews and sinews," where it still refers to physical brawn.

Synonyms: sinew, muscle, brawn, strength

Antonyms: weakness, feebleness