narwe

See also: narwę and Narwę

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From nearw-, the oblique stem of Old English nearu, from Proto-Germanic *narwaz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnarwə/, /ˈnarɔu̯/, /ˈnariu̯/

Adjective

narwe (plural and weak singular narwe, comparative narwere, superlative narwest)

  1. Narrow, skinny; lacking width.
    • 2003, Akio Oizumi, A Complete Concordance to the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer: A lexical concordance to the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, supplement series, III. v. 1. A-D, →ISBN:
      Narrow, small: narw, narwe, narwest. For saucefleem he was, with eyen narwe.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. Little; diminutive in or lacking size.
    • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Nun's Priest's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 4011-4012:
      A povre widwe, somdel stope in age,
      Was whylom dwelling in a narwe cotage,
      [...]
      A poor widow, somewhat advanced in age,
      Was once dwelling in a small cottage, [...]
  3. Tight, constricting; not allowing for much space.
    • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Man of Law's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 946:
      Forth goth hir ship thurgh-out the narwe mouth [...]
      Forth goes her ship throughout the narrow mouth [...]
  4. (rare) Unassuming, modest, simple.
  5. (rare, Early Middle English) Severe, rigorous, unforgiving.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: narrow
  • Scots: naro, narow, narrow
  • Yola: narrowe

References

Adverb

narwe

  1. Tightly; in a confined or restrictive way.
  2. Firmly; in a well-secured or well-attached way.
  3. Close, near; without allowing for much space.
  4. Uncomfortably; in a threadbare or poor way.
  5. Judiciously, attentively, with care, attention and heed.
  6. Readily, enthusiastically; with much purpose and dedication.
  7. (rare) Compactly, crowdedly; in a packed or non-diffuse way.
  8. (rare) In an accurate or meticulous way.
  9. (rare) Clingily; in a possessive manner.
  10. (rare) Strictly, unforgivingly.
  11. (rare) Sadly; sorrowfully.

Descendants

References

Noun

narwe

  1. (rare) Something narrow or constrictive.

Descendants

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.