shrew

English

A shrew (def. 1)

Pronunciation

enPR: shro͞o, IPA^(key): /ʃɹuː/
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -uː

Etymology 1

From Middle English *schrewe, from Old English sċrēawa (“shrew”), from Proto-Germanic *skrawwaz (“thin; meagre; frail”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut; shorten; skimp”). Cognates include Old High German scrawaz (“dwarf”), Norwegian skrugg (“dwarf”).

Noun

shrew (plural shrews)

Any of numerous small, mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family Soricidae (order Soricomorpha).
Certain other small mammals that resemble true shrews (order Soricomorpha).
(derogatory) An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a scold.
- 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
  The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a wife—shrill, vehement, and fluent. 'Rogue,' 'old miser,' 'old sneak,' and a great many worse names, she called him.
- 1959, Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz:
  His wife was a shrew with warts on her face and she spoke to him sharply when others were present, but Simcha did not complain.

Usage notes

The best-known use of the meaning 'ill-tempered woman' is probably from The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare.

Alternative forms

shrow (obsolete)

Synonyms

(mouselike mammal): ranny (obsolete)
(nagging woman): See Thesaurus:shrew

Hyponyms

(mouselike mammal): common shrew

Derived terms

terms derived from shrew (noun)

common shrew (Sorex araneus in family Soricidae)
elephant shrew (Macroscelididae)
Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus in family Soricidae)
hardishrew (Sorex araneus in family Soricidae)
jumping shrew (Macroscelididae)
Nelson's small-eared shrew (Cryptotis nelsoni, family Soricidae)
otter shrew (subfamily Potamogalinae in family Tenrecidae)
shrew opossum (family Caenolestidae))
shrew-run
shrewd
shrewish
shrewmouse (Sorex araneus in family Soricidae)
tree shrew, treeshrew (families Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae in order Scandentia)
West Indies shrew (genus †Nesophontes in family Solenodontidae)

Translations

mouselike animal

Arabic: زَبَابَة‎ f (zabāba)
Armenian: սրընչակ (hy) (srənčʿak)
Assamese: চিকা (sika)
Basque: satitsu
Belarusian: земляры́йка f (zjemljarýjka)
Breton: minoc'h (br) m
Bulgarian: земеро́вка f (zemeróvka)
Burmese: ကြွက်စုတ် (my) (krwakcut)
Catalan: musaranya f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 鼩鼱 (zh) (qújīng), 尖鼠 (jiānshǔ)
Czech: rejsek m
Danish: spidsmus c
Dutch: spitsmuis (nl) f
Esperanto: soriko
Estonian: karihiir
Faroese: trantmús f
Finnish: päästäinen (fi)
Franco-Provençal: musèt
French: musaraigne (fr) f
Galician: furaño m, musgaño m, musaraña f
Georgian: ბიგა (biga)
German: Spitzmaus (de) f
Greek: νανομυγαλίδα (nanomygalída)
Hungarian: cickány (hu)
Icelandic: snjáldurmús f, snjáldra f
Indonesian: celurut (id)
Irish: dallóg fhraoigh f
Italian: toporagno (it) m
Japanese: トガリネズミ (ja) (togarinezumi), 尖鼠 (とがりねずみ, togarinezumi)
Javanese: curut
Korean: 뒤쥐 (dwijwi)
Latgalian: ciersleits
Latin: sōrex m
Latvian: cirslis m
Lithuanian: kirstukas (lt) m
Macedonian: ровка f (rovka)
Maltese: ġurdiem ta' geddumu twil m
Navajo: chį́į́shnézí
Nepali: छुचुन्द्रो (chucundro)
Northern Sami: ^{(please verify)} beaiskonjunni, vánddis
Norwegian:
Bokmål: spissmus m or f
Nynorsk: spissmus f, skjerd m
Occitan: musaranha (oc) f
Old English: screawa m
Ottoman Turkish: سیوری صیچان‎ (sivri sıçan)
Persian: موش شبگرد‎ (muše šabgard)
Polish: ryjówka (pl) f
Portuguese: musaranho (pt) m
Romanian: chițcan (ro) m
Romansch: misarogn m
Russian: землеро́йка (ru) f (zemlerójka)
Scottish Gaelic: dallag-an-fhraoich f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ровчица f, ровка f
Roman: rovčica (sh) f, rovka (sh) f
Slovak: piskor m
Slovene: rovka (sl) f
Spanish: musaraña f
Swedish: näbbmus (sv) c
Tagalog: musaranya
Thai: หนูผี (nǔu-pǐi)
Turkish: kir faresi
Ukrainian: землери́йка f (zemlerýjka)
Vietnamese: chuột chù
Welsh: llyg f
West Frisian: pipermûs f

woman

Afrikaans: feeks
Chinese:
Mandarin: 潑婦／泼妇 (zh) (pōfù)
Czech: rachomejtle
Danish: rappenskralde c
Esperanto: megero
Finnish: äkäpussi (fi)
French: furie (fr) f, mégère (fr) f
Galician: arpella f
German: Megäre (de) f
Hebrew: מִרְשַׁעַת‎ (he) f (mirshá'at)
Polish: zołza (pl) f, hetera (pl) f, sekutnica (pl) f
Portuguese: megera (pt) f
Romanian: megeră (ro) f, scorpie (ro) f
Russian: меге́ра (ru) f (megéra), ве́дьма (ru) f (védʹma)
Sicilian: majara f, magara (scn) f, mavara (scn) f
Spanish: arpía (es) f, bruja (es) f
Swedish: ragata (sv) c, argbigga (sv) c
Turkish: cadı (tr)

Etymology 2

From Middle English schrewen (“to make evil; curse”), from Middle English schrewe, schrowe, screwe (“wicked; evil; an evil person”), from Old English *scrēawa (“wicked person”, literally “biter”). Perhaps ultimately from the same word as Etymology 1 above.

Verb

shrew (third-person singular simple present shrews, present participle shrewing, simple past and past participle shrewed)

(obsolete, transitive) To beshrew; to curse.
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, OCLC 932884868:
  I shrew myself.
  (please add an English translation of this quote)

Anagrams

Rhews, wersh