spewen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• speouwen, spew, spewe, spiewen, spiwan, spue, spuen, spuwe

Etymology

From Old English spīwan (strong class 1).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspiu̯ən/

Verb

spewen (third-person singular simple present speweth, present participle spewende, spewynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle spewed)

1. To spew (regurgitate partially-digested food)
2. To spit (eject spit from the mouth)

Usage notes

• Strong forms of the verb are rare. The early past tense form speaw and the rare past participle form spowen show influence of class 2 verbs such as brewen and rewen.

Conjugation

Conjugation of spewen (weak in -ed or strong class 2)

infinitive	(to) spewen, spewe
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	spewe	spewed
2nd-person singular	spewest	spewedest
3rd-person singular	speweth	spewed
subjunctive singular	spewe	spewed1
imperative singular		—
plural3	spewen, spewe	speweden, spewede
imperative plural	speweth, spewe	—
participles	spewynge, spewende	spewed, spowen, spowe, yspewed

¹ Later replaced by the indicative.
² Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

• spewynge

Descendants

• English: spew
• Scots: spew

References

• “speuen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 21 November 2018.