# stew

> English word · Noun · IPA /stʃʉː/ · frequency rank #15,516

## Definitions
1. A cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron.
2. A heated bath-room or steam-room; also, a hot bath.
3. A brothel.
4. A prostitute.
5. A dish cooked by stewing.
6. A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.
7. An artificial bed of oysters.
8. A state of agitated excitement, worry, or confusion.
9. Unwanted background noise recorded by the microphone.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sw)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sue)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-str)
- **STS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sts)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stu)
- **STI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sti)
- **STM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stm)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stp)
- **sth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sth)
- **stop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stop)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stir)
- **sued** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sued)
- **stud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stud)
- **stun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stun)
- **Sven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sven)
- **Suez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-suez)
- **stub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stub)
- **stow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stow)
- **SXSW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-sxsw)
- **stig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stew-vs-stig)

## Common misspellings (6)
`setw`, `sstew`, `steww`, `sttew`, `stwe`, `tsew`

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