sinew

Definition of sinew

6 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

A cord or tendon of the body.

See all 6 definitions

noun

A cord or tendon of the body.
A cord or string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
(figuratively)Muscular power, muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength.
(figuratively, in-plural, often)That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting factor or member; mainstay.

“[S]he loſt a noble and renowned brother, in his loue toward her, euer moſt kinde and naturall: with him the portion and ſinew of her fortune, her marriage dowry: with both, her combynate-husband, this well-ſeeming Angelo.”
“The Bodies of Men, Munition, and Mony may justly be called the ſinews of War, yet of them the two firſt are more neceſſary, for Men and Arms have means to find Mony and Meate: but Mony and Meate cannot ſo eaſily find Soldiers and ſwords.”
“Good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue.”
(obsolete)A nerve.

verb

(transitive)To knit together or make strong with, or as if with, sinews.

“And now to London with Triumphant march, / There to be crowned Englands Royall King: / From whence, ſhall Warwicke cut the Sea to France, / And aske the Ladie Bona for thy Queene: / So ſhalt thou ſinow both theſe Lands together, / And hauing France thy Friend, thou ſhalt not dread / The ſcattred Foe, that hopes to riſe againe: […]”
“[I]t were to be wiſhed that we tried the restrictive arts of government, and made law the protector, but not the tyrant of the people. […] [W]e ſhould then find that wretches, now ſtuck up for long tortures, left luxury ſhould feel a momentary pang, might, if properly treated, ſerve to ſinew the ſtate in times of danger; […]”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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…

See full 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”), 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.

Anagrams of sinew

8 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play swine 8 points

Words you can make from sinew

27 playable · top: SWINE (8 pts)

Best play swine 8 points

5-letter words

1 word

WINES 8 pts

4-letter words

7 words

3-letter words

10 words

2-letter words

8 words

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

A single letter you can add to sinew to make another valid word.