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PlainSpell

stew

UK /stjuː/noun, verb

stew is spelled S-T-E-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Stew, the name). As a noun, stew means “A heated bath-room or steam-room; also, a hot bath” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stew is stews.

How many letters and syllables are in stew?

Letters4: S-T-E-W
Syllables1
In writing3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
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 stew?

Stew appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Stew, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce stew?

  • Australia /stʃʉː/
  • UK /stjuː/
  • UK /stʃuː/

Stew has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-stew.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with stew?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as stew from its last stressed vowel (/u/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: west.

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 stew

  • stews plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • stewing participle, present
  • stewed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does stew mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteA cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron.

  2. 2

    A heated bath-room or steam-room; also, a hot bath.

  3. 3

    archaicA brothel.

  4. 4

    obsoleteA prostitute.

  5. 5

    A dish cooked by stewing.

  6. 6

    A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.

  7. 7

    USAn artificial bed of oysters.

  8. 8

    slangA state of agitated excitement, worry, or confusion.

    to be in a stew

  9. 9

    ScotlandA cloud of fine particles or droplets; dust, smoke, vapor, mist, or sea-spray.

  10. 10

    informalA steward or stewardess on an airplane or boat.

verb

  1. 1

    To cook (food) by slowly boiling or simmering.

    I'm going to stew some meat for the casserole.

  2. 2

    To brew (tea) for too long, so that the flavour becomes too strong.

  3. 3

    To suffer under uncomfortably hot conditions.

  4. 4

    To be in a state of elevated anxiety or anger.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Stew in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchragoût (dish), mijoter (to cook (food)), faire du thé (to brew (tea)), transpirer, étouffer (to suffer under hot conditions), frémir (to be in a state of elevated anxiety)
GermanEintopf, Brei (dish), schmoren, dünsten (to cook (food)), Aufregung, Horror (excitement)
Portuguesecozido, ensopado, guisado (dish), guisar (to cook (food)), assar (to suffer under hot conditions)
Spanishguisado, cocido, estofado, guiso, shishpolá (dish), guisar (to cook (food))

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 stew come from?

From Middle English stewe, stue, from Anglo-Norman estouve, Old French estuve (“bath, bathhouse”) (modern French étuve), from Medieval Latin stupha, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *extufāre, from ex- + Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, steam”), from τύφω (túphō, “to smoke”). See also Italian stufare, Portuguese estufar. Compare also Old English stuf-bæþ (“a hot-air bath, vapour bath”); see stove.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after stew