blowen
English
Noun
blowen (plural blowens)
- (obsolete, vulgar) A prostitute; a courtesan.
- 1840, Regular Slangsman, The Flash Mirror, Or, Kiddy's Cabinet (page 12)
- Poll Strokem, an old blowen, well known about the streets of London, was continually crying; see her whenever you would, she was all snot and slobber, like a calf's head on a hot summer's day […]
- 1840, Regular Slangsman, The Flash Mirror, Or, Kiddy's Cabinet (page 12)
Synonyms
- blowess
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for blowen in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
Anagrams
- Bowlen
Middle English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old English blāwan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną.
Alternative forms
- blouen, blow, blowe, blowyn
- blawe (Northern or Kent)
- blawen, bloawen (early)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈblɔu̯ən/
- (Northern) IPA(key): /ˈblɑu̯(ən)/
Verb
blowen
- To blow (produce a current of air):
- To blow away; to blow to eliminate or remove.
- To breathe (in or out); to inhale or exhale.
- To play a wind instrument (by blowing)
- To strengthen a fire by blowing on it.
- To inflate or blow up; to expand by blowing.
- To gasp; to struggle to breathe.
- To spread a communicable disease (by exhalation).
- To smelt; to extract metal from ore.
- To make a sound, especially flatulence.
- To insult or brag (talk coarsely)
- To proclaim; to broadly disseminate.
- (rare) To be blown around (by wind).
Conjugation
infinitive | (to) blowen, blowe | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | blowe | blew | |
2nd-person singular | blowest | blewe, blew | |
3rd-person singular | bloweth | blew | |
subjunctive singular | blowe | blewe1 | |
imperative singular | — | ||
plural2 | blowen, blowe | blewen, blewe | |
imperative plural | bloweth, blowe | — | |
participles | blowynge, blowende | blowen, blowe, yblowen, yblowe |
1Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
2Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Derived terms
- blowere
- blowynge
Descendants
- English: blow
- Northumbrian: blaa
- Scots: blaw
- Yola: blowe
References
- “blouen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-14.
Etymology 2
Inherited from Old English blōwan, from Proto-West Germanic *blōan, from Proto-Germanic *blōaną.
Alternative forms
- blowe
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈblɔu̯ən/
Verb
blowen
- To blossom; to flower.
- a. 1250, unknown, “Sumer is icumen in”:
- Lhude sing cuccu / Groweþ sed / and bloweþ med
- Sing loudly, cuckoo! / seed grows / and fields bloom
-
- (figurative) To grow, to flourish.
Usage notes
This verb is occasionally weak, but usually remains strong, probably due to influence from Etymology 1.
Conjugation
infinitive | (to) blowen, blowe | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | blowe | blew | |
2nd-person singular | blowest | blewe, blew | |
3rd-person singular | bloweth | blew | |
subjunctive singular | blowe | blewe1 | |
imperative singular | — | ||
plural2 | blowen, blowe | blewen, blewe | |
imperative plural | bloweth, blowe | — | |
participles | blowynge, blowende | blowen, blowe, yblowen, yblowe |
1Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
2Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Derived terms
- blowynge
Descendants
- English: blow
References
- “blouen, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-12.