mowen

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą.

Most forms are from an Old English by-form *mugan (no doubt due to the analogy of dugan).

Alternative forms

• magen, maȝen, mayen, mauen, mawe, mawen, moȝen, mouen, mouin, moun, mouwe, mouwen, mow, mowe, mugen, muȝhen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːən/, /ˈmɔu̯ən/
• (early) IPA^(key): /ˈmuɣən/, /ˈmaɣən/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /muː/, /mɑu̯/

Verb

mowen (third-person singular simple present may, present participle mowynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative myghte, past participle mowen)

1. To be strong or powerful.
2. (auxiliary) To be able to; to have the capability (to do); can.
   • p. 1154, “AD 1137”, in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS. Laud Misc. 636, continuation), Peterborough, folio 89, verso; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 2018 February 8:

     Þu myhteſ faren al a dæiſ fare ſculdeſt thu neure finden man in tun ſittende · ne land tiled.

     You could go a whole day's journey, but you'd never find anyone in town or any tilled fields.

   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎, published c. 1410, Apocalips 6:17, page 119v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     foꝛ þe greet dai of her wraþþe comeþ · ⁊ who ſchal mowe ſtonde

     because the great day of their wrath has arrived, and who'll be able to stand?

3. (auxiliary) To potentially be able (to do); might.
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41:

     Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. […] "

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (auxiliary) To be permitted (to do); may.
5. (auxiliary) To ought (to do); should.
6. (auxiliary) Will, would.
7. (auxiliary) As a syntactic marker.

Usage notes

As in Modern English, what are historically the past forms of this verb are frequently used with present or even future semantics.

Conjugation

Descendants

• English: may
• Scots: mey, may, ma
• Yola: mye, mey, mai, maa, ma; meigh

References

• “mouen, v.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-12.

Etymology 2

From Old English māwan, from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną.

Alternative forms

• mawe, mawen, mouin, mouwe, mow, mowe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔu̯ən/
• (early) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑu̯ən/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /mɑu̯/

Verb

mowen (third-person singular simple present moweth, present participle mowynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative mew, past participle mowen)

2. To mow; to cut or slice off (the tops) of grasses or stalks.
3. To collect crops using a scythe or similar implement.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• mowynge

Descendants

• English: mow
• Scots: maw

References

• “mouen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-05-03.