Sow \Sow\, v. t. [imp. Sowed; p. p. Sownor Sowed; p. pr. &
vb. n. Sowing.]
[OE. sowen, sawen, AS. s[=a]wan; akin to
OFries. s?a, D. zaaijen, OS. & HG. s[=a]jan, G. s["a]en,
Icel. s[=a], Sw. s[*a], Dan. saae, Goth. saian, Lith.
s[=e]ti, Russ. sieiate, L. serere, sevi. Cf. Saturday,
Season, Seed, Seminary.]
1. To scatter, as seed, upon the earth; to plant by strewing;
as, to sow wheat. Also used figuratively: To spread
abroad; to propagate. ``He would sow some difficulty.''
--Chaucer.
A sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some
seeds fell by the wayside. --Matt. xiii.
3, 4.
And sow dissension in the hearts of brothers.
--Addison.
2. To scatter seed upon, in, or over; to supply or stock, as
land, with seeds. Also used figuratively: To scatter over;
to besprinkle.
The intellectual faculty is a goodly field, . . .
and it is the worst husbandry in the world to sow it
with trifles. --Sir M. Hale.
[He] sowed with stars the heaven. --Milton.
Now morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl.
--Milton.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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