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• pew
  pew

  noun

  (in a church) one of a number of fixed, benchlike seats with backs, accessible by aisles, for the use of the congregation.
• PEW
  PEW

  abbreviation

  possibly extinct in the wild.

pew

¹ American  

[pyoo] / pju /

noun

• pews
  plural

1. (in a church) one of a number of fixed, benchlike seats with backs, accessible by aisles, for the use of the congregation.

2. an enclosed seat in a church, or an enclosure with seats, usually reserved for a family or other group of worshipers.

3. those occupying pews; congregation.

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PEW ² American  

abbreviation

Biology, Ecology.

1. possibly extinct in the wild.

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pew British  

/ pjuː /

noun

1. 1. one of several long benchlike seats with backs, used by the congregation

   2. an enclosed compartment reserved for the use of a family or other small group

2. informal a seat (esp in the phrase take a pew )

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pews
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pew

1350–1400; Middle English puwe < Middle French puie balcony < Latin podia, plural (taken as singular) of podium balcony. See podium

Explanation

A pew is a long wooden bench with a back. You'll find many rows of pews in most churches. Some courtrooms have pews, but mostly they're found in churches, as seating for the congregation and sometimes for the members of a choir. After the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, pews began to appear in churches. Before that, they were rare, as sitting and listening to a sermon was uncommon. Many of these earliest pews were paid for by (and considered the property of) individual families. Pew shares a Latin root with podium.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pew PEW pews

Like nearly everyone I grew up around in this corner of Pennsylvania, Sundays in our house were a congregation in green, and I was the lone holdout in the pew, quietly pulling for New England.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

This column is a sacred space, where consumers and not investors have the front pew.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

Sitting in the pew, on its own, does nothing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026

Hutchins wanted to get a camera angle of Baldwin, sitting on a pew inside a dusty wooden church, for a dramatic moment in the film.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025

Under the pew, I tapped his metal crutches with the tip of my blue canvas shoe.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

A 2018 study from the PEW research group showed, in Belgium, that of the 83% that say they were raised Christian, only 55% still consider themselves so.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

Although Christianity is waning in the U.S., it is growing globally, with PEW projecting another 750 million Christians in total by 2050.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2021

The PEW Research Center reported a staggering 1.1 million illegal immigrants in New York City in 2016.

From Fox News ● Oct. 19, 2019

This week, polling by the PEW Research Center confirmed out mixed emotions about the subject.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 18, 2017

To PEW, PEU, v. n. the mournful sound emitted by birds.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXIV. by Alexander Leighton

Along with the technicolor mural, Caland’s singular sensibility persists in scattered drawings, a bouquet of her preferred 30-inch paintbrushes and a pair of stiff-backed pews.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

Among the rank-and-file, the fight now reverberates in church pews and parking lots, and in America’s Catholic neighborhoods from Pittsburgh to Boston to Miami.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

The Pot Noodles on the pews were a surprise the funeral director thought up.

From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026

By streaming standards, that’s enough to keep anyone planted in their living room’s pews.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026

Wasps droned in the window wells as people shuffled in, filling the pews.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck