sinew
UK /ˈsɪnjuː/ · US /ˈsɪnju/ noun, verb
Forms sinews sinewing sinewed sinnew
- noun (anatomy) A cord or tendon of the body.
- noun A cord or string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
- noun (figuratively) Muscular power, muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength.
- noun (figuratively, often in the plural) That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting factor or member; mainstay.
- noun (anatomy, obsolete) A nerve.
- verb (transitive) To knit together or make strong with, or as if with, sinews.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English synwe, synewe (“tendon; ligament or other connective tissue; muscle; nerve; leaf vein”), from Old English sinu (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), from Proto-West Germanic *sinu, from Proto-Germanic *sinwō, from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”), from *(s)neh₁- (“to twist (threads), spin, weave”).
The word is cognate with sinnow (“sinew”), Scots senon, sinnon, Saterland Frisian Siene (“sinew”), West Frisian senuw, sine (“sinew; nerve”), Dutch zeen (“sinew”), Dutch zenuw (“nerve”), German Sehne (“tendon, sinew; cord”), Icelandic sin (“tendon”), Danish sene (“tendon, sinew”), Swedish sena (“sinew”), Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬁𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭 (snāuuar, “tendon, sinew”), Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “tendon; nerve; cord”), Latin nervus (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), Sanskrit स्नावन् (snāván, “sinew, tendon; muscle”), Tocharian B ṣñor (“sinew”). Doublet of nerve and neuron.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A tendon or tendonous tissue. See Tendon.
- noun Muscle; nerve. [R.] Sir J. Davies.
- verb To knit together, or make strong with, or as with, sinews.
Etymology [OE. sinewe, senewe, AS. sinu, seonu; akin to D. zenuw, OHG. senawa, G. sehne, Icel. sin, Sw. sena, Dan. sene; cf. Skr. snava. sq. root290.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sinew”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details