MEW
PRONUNCIATION: (myoo)
MEANING:
noun: 1. A cage for hawks, especially while molting.
2. A place for retiring or hiding.
3. In the UK, as mews, stables with living quarters. Also, a row of apartments converted from stables.
verb tr.: 4. To confine.
verb intr.: 5. To molt.
noun: 6. The high-pitched sound of a cat.
7. The characteristic sound of a gull.
8. A seagull (Larus canus).
ETYMOLOGY:
For 1-5: From Old French muer (to molt), from Latin mutare (to change). Ultimately from the Indo-European root mei- (to change -or move) that has also given us commute, mutual, migrate, common, mistake, immune, and excommunicate. Earliest documented use: 1375.
For 6-7: Of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1325.
For 8: From Old English maew. Earliest documented use: before 12th c.
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MEWA - pronounced MEE-wah. A state program for dealing with disasters suffered by small canaries with a speech impediment; acronym for Massachusetts Emergency Wecovewy Act.
