# mow

> English word · Verb · IPA /məʊ/ · frequency rank #25,486

## Definitions
1. To cut down grass or crops.
2. To cut down or slaughter in great numbers.

## Etymology
From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo (“to mow”), Dutch maaien (“to mow”), German mähen (“to mow”), Luxembourgish méien (“to mow”), Danish meje (“to mow”), Swedish meja (“to mow”); see also Hittite [script needed] (ḫamešḫa, “spring/early summer”, literally “mowing time”), Latin metō (“to harvest, mow”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to mow”).

## Easily confused with
- **my** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-my)
- **Mr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mr)
- **MS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-ms)
- **MP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mp)
- **MT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mt)
- **mu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mu)
- **MW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mw)
- **MV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mv)
- **Mx** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mx)
- **Mrs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mrs)
- **mum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mum)
- **MPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mps)
- **MUD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mud)
- **mph** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mph)
- **MVP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mvp)
- **MTV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mtv)
- **mug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mug)
- **MP3** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mp3)
- **MRI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-mri)
- **MSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mow-vs-msm)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mow