Definition of SINEW

sinew

Meanings

Plural: sinews

Noun

  • a cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment
  • possessing muscular strength
  • A cord or tendon of the body.
  • A cord or string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
  • Muscular power, muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength.
  • That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting factor or member; mainstay.
  • A nerve.

Verb

  • To knit together or make strong with, or as if with, sinews.

Origin / 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, *senawō (“sinew”), 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 zenuw (“nerve, sinew”), German Sehne (“tendon, sinew; cord”), Icelandic sin (“tendon”), 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.

Scrabble Score: 8

sinew is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
sinew is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
sinew is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

sinew is a valid Words With Friends word