mowen

Middle English

FWOTD – 18 April 2024

Etymology 1

From Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą.

Most forms are from an Old English by-form *mugan (no doubt due to the analogy of dugan).

Alternative forms

• magen, maȝen, mayen, mauen, mawe, mawen, moȝen, mouen, mouin, moun, mouwe, mouwen, mow, mowe, mugen, muȝhen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːən/, /ˈmɔu̯ən/
• (Early Middle English) IPA^(key): /ˈmuɣən/, /ˈmaɣən/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /muː/, /mɑu̯/

Verb

mowen (third-person singular simple present may, present participle mowynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative myghte, past participle mowen)

1. To be strong or powerful.
2. (auxiliary) To be able to; to have the capability (to do); can.
   • p. 1154, “AD 1137”, in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS. Laud Misc. 636, continuation), Peterborough, folio 89, verso; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 2018 February 8:

     Þu myhteſ faren al a dæiſ fare ſculdeſt thu neure finden man in tun ſittende · ne land tiled.

     You could go a whole day's journey, but you'd never find anyone in town or any tilled fields.

   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Apocalips 6:17, page 119v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     foꝛ þe greet dai of her wraþþe comeþ · ⁊ who ſchal mowe ſtonde

     […] because the great day of their wrath has arrived, and who'll be able to stand?

3. (auxiliary) To potentially be able (to do); might.
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41:

     Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. […] "

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (auxiliary) To be permitted (to do); may.
5. (auxiliary) To ought (to do); should.
6. (auxiliary) Will, would.
7. (auxiliary) As a syntactic marker.

Usage notes

As in Modern English, what are historically the past forms of this verb are frequently used with present or even future semantics.

Conjugation

Conjugation of mowen (preterite-present, defective)

infinitive	(to) mowen, mowe, maye
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	may	myghte, moghte
2nd-person singular	myght, mayst	myghtest, moghtest
3rd-person singular	may	myghte, moghte
subjunctive singular	mowe, maye
imperative singular	—	—
plural1	mowen, mowe, mayen, maye	myghten, myghte, moghten, moghte
imperative plural	—	—
participles	mowynge, mowende	mowen, mowe, myght, moght

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: may
• Scots: mey, may, ma
• Yola: mye, mey, mai, maa, ma, meigh

References

• “mouen, v.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-12.

Etymology 2

From Old English māwan, from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną.

Alternative forms

• mawe, mawen, mouin, mouwe, mow, mowe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔu̯ən/
• (Early Middle English) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑu̯ən/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /mɑu̯/

Verb

mowen (third-person singular simple present moweth, present participle mowynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative mew, past participle mowen)

2. To mow; to cut or slice off (the tops) of grasses or stalks.
3. To collect crops using a scythe or similar implement.

Conjugation

Conjugation of mowen (strong class 7)

infinitive	(to) mowen, mowe
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	mowe	mew
2nd-person singular	mowest	mewe, mew
3rd-person singular	moweth	mew
subjunctive singular	mowe	mewe1
imperative singular		—
plural2	mowen, mowe	mewen, mewe
imperative plural	moweth, mowe	—
participles	mowynge, mowende	mowen, mowe, ymowen, ymowe

¹Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
²Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

• mowynge

Descendants

• English: mow
• Scots: maw

References

• “mouen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-05-03.