# taw

> English word · Verb · IPA /tɔː/ · frequency rank #65,555

## Definitions
1. To prepare or dress, as hemp, by beating; to tew.
2. To beat; to scourge.
3. To dress and prepare, as the skins of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids, for gloves, etc., by imbuing them with alum, salt, and other agents, for softening and bleaching them.
4. To dress and prepare, as the skins of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids, for gloves, etc., by imbuing them with alum, salt, and other agents, for softening and bleaching them.

## Etymology
From Middle English tawen, from Old English tawian (“to do, make”), from Proto-West Germanic *tawōn, a variant of Proto-West Germanic *tauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *tawjaną (“to make, prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”).
Cognate with Dutch touwen (“to rope, tether, curry”), Dutch tuien (“to fasten with ropes”), German Tau (“rope, hawser, cable”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “to make, prepare”). Related to tool and tether.

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