Mew
wiktionary
From Middle English mewe, mowe, meau, from Old English mǣw, from Proto-Germanic *maihwaz, *maiwaz(“seagull”) (compare West Frisian meau, mieu, Dutch meeuw, German Möwe), from *maiwijaną(“to shout, mew”) (compare Middle English mawen(“to shout, mew”), Middle Dutch mauwen, Middle High German māwen); akin to Latvian maût(“to roar”), Old Church Slavonic мꙑꙗти(myjati, “to mew”).
From Middle English mewe, mue, mwe, from Anglo-Norman mue, muwe, and Middle French mue(“shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison”), from muer(“to moult”).
From Middle English mewen; onomatopoeic.
Named after British orthodontistsJohn Mew and his son Michael Mew. [1]
etymonline
mew (v.)
"make a sound like a cat," early 14c., mewen, of imitative origin (compare German miauen, French miauler, Italian miagolare, Spanish maullar, and see meow). Sometimes also used of seagulls. Related: Mewed; mewing. As a noun from 1590s.
mew (n.1)
"seagull," Old English mæw, from Proto-Germanic *maigwis (source also of Old Saxon mew, Frisian meau, Middle Dutch and Middle Low German mewe, Dutch meeuw "gull"), imitative of its cry. Old French moue (Modern French mouette) and Lithuanian mėvas probably are Germanic loan-words.
mew (n.2)
"cage for birds; place where hawks are put to molt," late 14c., from Old French mue "cage for hawks," especially when molting, from muer "to molt," from Latin mutare "to change" (from PIE root *mei- (1) "to change"). In extended use, "a place of retirement or confinement" (early 15c.). Also as a verb, "to shut up, confine" (mid-15c.).
