- past participle of sow.
sown
Americanverb
verb
Other Word Forms
Explanation
When a farmer's fields are sown, it means that she's planted seeds in them. If you sow something, you scatter seeds on it or plant tiny seedlings in it. The adjective sown is the past participle of sow, so you could say, "The field behind the school was sown with wildflower seeds," or "There were so many seeds that couldn't be sown this year because of the drought." The word comes from the Old English sāwan, "to scatter seed upon the ground."
Vocabulary lists containing sown
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sam Sacks finds that Ray Nayler’s novel is “skillfully sown with dramatic surprises” even as it straddles the divide “between the speculative and the plausible.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Mr. Nayler develops these civilizational portrayals in a story skillfully sown with dramatic surprises.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
But in about 1989, the seeds of a new Muffler Man era were sown.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
The months of November to March mark peak fire season in the region as farmers burn off fields before new seeds are sown.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
He would have been changed, as they said, forever; sown in dishonor, he would be raised in honor: he would have been born again.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
