sinew
sin·ew/ˈsɪnju/noun, verb
sinew is spelled S-I-N-E-W: 5 letters and 2 syllables (sin·ew). It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sinew means “A cord or tendon of the body” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sinew is sinews.
How many letters and syllables are in sinew?
| Letters | 5: S-I-N-E-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: sin·ew |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 64,400th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sinew?
Sinew appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sinew?
- UK /ˈsɪnjuː/
- /ˈsɪny/
- US /ˈsɪnju/
Sinew has 2 syllables, split sin·ew in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-sinew.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sinew?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as sinew (/ɪnju/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: swine, sewin, wisen.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sinew
- sinews plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sinnew
- sinewing participle, present
- sinewed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sinew mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A cord or tendon of the body.
- 2
A cord or string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
- 3
Muscular power, muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength.
- 4
That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting factor or member; mainstay.
- 5
obsoleteA nerve.
verb
- 1
To knit together or make strong with, or as if with, sinews.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sinew in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense muscular power, muscle; vigor, vigorous strength:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Muskelkraft, Kraft, Stärke, Nervenstärke, Spannkraft |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sinew come from?
From Middle English synwe, synewe (“tendon; ligament or other connective tissue; muscle; nerve; leaf vein”), from Old English sinu (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), from Proto-West Germanic *sinu, from Proto-Germanic *sinwō, from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”), from *(s)neh₁- (“to twist (threads), spin, weave”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).