sowens

[soh-uh nz, soo-]

noun (used with a singular verb) Scot., Irish English.

porridge made from oat bran or husks that have been soaked in water, slightly fermented, and then boiled.

Origin of sowens

1575–85; < Scots Gaelic sùghan, derivative of sùgh sap

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sowens

Historical Examples of sowens

He is a poet, and, according to his idea of that race, they subsist entirely upon porridge or on sowens.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846
Various
Ousen milk, sowens, or flummery not boiled; used instead of milk, Dumfr.
An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language
John Jamieson
Sowens, a dish made by steeping, fermenting, and then boiling the husks or siftings of oats in water.
Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-Western District of Scotland
J. Maxwell Wood
Sowans, sowens; a sort of flummery or gruel usually made and eaten on Hallow Eve.
English As We Speak It in Ireland
P. W. Joyce
Sowens, pottage made of the dust in oatmeal seeds steeped and soured.
The Proverbs of Scotland
Alexander Hislop

British Dictionary definitions for sowens

sowens

noun

Scot a pudding made from oatmeal husks steeped and boiled

Word Origin for sowens

C16: from Scottish Gaelic sùghan, from sùfgh sap; related to Old High German sūgan to suck

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