hewn

[hyoon or, often, yoon]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hewn ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

felled and roughly shaped by hewing: hewn logs.

given a rough surface: hewn stone.

Origin of hewn

1300–50; Middle English hewen, past participle of hew

Related formsun·hewn, adjectivewell-hewn, adjective

hew

[hyoo or, often, yoo]

verb (used with object), hewed, hewed or hewn, hew·ing.

to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.

to make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows: to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble.

to sever (a part) from a whole by means of cutting blows (usually followed by away, off, out, from, etc.): to hew branches from the tree.

to cut down; fell: to hew wood; trees hewed down by the storm.

verb (used without object), hewed, hewed or hewn, hew·ing.

to strike with cutting blows; cut: He hewed more vigorously each time.

to uphold, follow closely, or conform (usually followed by to): to hew to the tenets of one's political party.

Origin of hew

before 900; Middle English hewen, Old English hēawan; cognate with German hauen, Old Norse hǫggva; akin to haggle

Related formshew·a·ble, adjectivehew·er, nounun·hew·a·ble, adjectiveun·hewed, adjective

Can be confusedhew hue Hugh

Synonyms for hew

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hew ON THESAURUS.COM

2. form.

Synonym study

1. See cut.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hewn

Contemporary Examples of hewn

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down.
Keep Christmas Commercialized!
P. J. O’Rourke
December 6, 2014

Historical Examples of hewn

The frame is of hewn timber, generally nine by fourteen inches.
The New England Magazine Volume 1, No. 3, March, 1886
Various
The furniture consisted of roughly hewn benches and a table.
Old Rail Fence Corners
Various
The inclosure was protected by a rough fence, hewn out of logs.
The Kentucky Ranger
Edward T. Curnick
As for the maiden, they built her tomb of hewn stone in the place where she was slain.
Stories From Livy
Alfred Church
The buildings are of hewn stone, and of the most substantial description.
Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877
James Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for hewn

hew

verb hews, hewing, hewed, hewed or hewn (hjuːn)

to strike (something, esp wood) with cutting blows, as with an axe

(tr often foll by out) to shape or carve from a substance

(tr; often foll by away, down, from, off, etc) to sever from a larger or another portion

(intr often foll by to) US and Canadian to conform (to a code, principle, etc)

Derived Formshewer, noun

Word Origin for hew

Old English hēawan; related to Old Norse heggva, Old Saxon hāwa, Old High German houwan, Latin cūdere to beat

HEW

abbreviation for (in the US)

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hewn

strong past participle of hew.

hew

Old English heawan "to chop, hack, gash" (class VII strong verb; past tense heow, past participle heawen), earlier geheawan, from Proto-Germanic *hawwan (cf. Old Norse hoggva, Old Frisian hawa, Old Saxon hauwan, Middle Dutch hauwen, Dutch houwen, Old High German houwan, German hauen "to cut, strike, hew"), from PIE root *kau- "to hew, strike" (cf. Old Church Slavonic kovo, Lithuanian kauju "to beat, forge;" Latin cudere "to strike, beat;" Middle Irish cuad "beat, fight").

Weak past participle hewede appeared 14c., but hasn't displaced hewn. Seemingly contradictory sense of "hold fast, stick to" (in phrase hew to) developed from hew to the line "stick to a course," literally "cut evenly with an axe or saw," first recorded 1891. Related: Hewed; hewing.