Sewn

How to spell sewn

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce sewn

What does sewn mean?

1. verbJoined or fastened with stitches made by needle and thread; the past participle of 'sew'.

Sewn in a sentence

• The tailor confirmed that every button had been sewn on by hand.

• The torn hem was neatly sewn before the wedding.

Where does sewn come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past participle of the verb 'sew', which comes from the Old English siwian, meaning 'to stitch, join, or fasten with needle and thread'. That word traces back through Germanic roots to an even older Indo-European base meaning 'to bind together', a sense that also survives in the Latin suere, 'to sew', and ultimately in the word 'suture' that surgeons still use. English long ago developed two acceptable past participles, the older irregular 'sewn' and the regular 'sewed', with 'sewn' becoming the dominant adjective form. The deceptive part for writers is that 'sewn' sounds exactly like 'sown', the past participle of 'sow' (to scatter seed), yet the two come from completely unrelated Old English verbs. Remembering that 'sewn' keeps the 'sew' of needlework helps keep it apart from the seed-scattering 'sown'.

How the word is built

• sew (Old English siwian: to stitch with needle and thread)
• -n (strong past participle ending)