blowen

English

Noun

blowen (plural blowens)

  1. (obsolete, vulgar) A prostitute; a courtesan.
    • 1840, Regular Slangsman, The Flash Mirror, Or, Kiddy's Cabinet, page 12:
      Poll Strokem, an old blowen, well known about the streets of London, was continually crying; see her whenever you would, she was all snot and slobber, like a calf's head on a hot summer's day []
    • August 1831, Bryan O'Toole, “Barney Moore”, in Blackwood Magazine:
      Many a blowen of saloonic fame

References

Anagrams

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English blāwan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈblɔu̯ən/
  • (Northern) IPA(key): /ˈblɑu̯(ən)/

Verb

blowen

  1. To blow (produce a current of air):
    1. To blow away; to blow to eliminate or remove.
    2. To breathe (in or out); to inhale or exhale.
    3. To play a wind instrument (by blowing)
    4. To strengthen a fire by blowing on it.
    5. To inflate or blow up; to expand by blowing.
    6. To gasp; to struggle to breathe.
  2. To spread a communicable disease (by exhalation).
  3. To smelt; to extract metal from ore.
  4. To make a sound, especially flatulence.
  5. To insult or brag (talk coarsely)
  6. To proclaim; to broadly disseminate.
  7. (rare) To be blown around (by wind).
Conjugation
Conjugation of blowen (strong class 7)
infinitive (to) blowen, blowe
present tense past tense
1st-person singular blowe blew
2nd-person singular blowest blewe, blew
3rd-person singular bloweth blew
subjunctive singular blowe blewe1
imperative singular
plural2 blowen, blowe blewen, blewe
imperative plural bloweth, blowe
participles blowynge, blowende blowen, blowe, yblowen, yblowe

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

Derived terms
Descendants
  • English: blow
  • Geordie English: blaw
  • Scots: blaw
  • Yola: blay
References

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old English blōwan, from Proto-West Germanic *blōan, from Proto-Germanic *blōaną.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈblɔu̯ən/

Verb

blowen

  1. To blossom; to flower.
    • a. 1250, unknown, “Sumer is icumen in”‎[1]:
      Lhude sing cuccu / Groweþ sed / and bloweþ med
      Sing loudly, cuckoo! / seed grows / and fields bloom
  2. (figurative) To grow, to flourish.
Usage notes

This verb is occasionally weak, but usually remains strong, probably due to influence from Etymology 1.

Conjugation
Conjugation of blowen (strong class 7)
infinitive (to) blowen, blowe
present tense past tense
1st-person singular blowe blew
2nd-person singular blowest blewe, blew
3rd-person singular bloweth blew
subjunctive singular blowe blewe1
imperative singular
plural2 blowen, blowe blewen, blewe
imperative plural bloweth, blowe
participles blowynge, blowende blowen, blowe, yblowen, yblowe

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

Derived terms
Descendants
References

Old English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbloː.wen/

Verb

blōwen

  1. plural present subjunctive of blōwan

Participle

blōwen

  1. past participle of blōwan