tew

1) To tan, a variant spelling of ‘taw’, with examples in the OED from <i>c</i>.1440.

It occurs earlier in the North Riding: 1395 It. pro tewyng xiiij pellium luporum js ixd, Whitby and it was common as a past participle: 1488 j bukskyn tewyd, Ripon

1567 fyve tewed foxe skynnes, Fixby. The occupational term is listed in York: 1310 Andreas de Doncaster, tewer

1393 Thomas Tyas, tewer. It could also mean ‘to work with the hands, to pummel or to beat’ and these may have derived from the manipulation of leather by hand in the softening process. Examples are quite late: 1642 grave up some earth and water it and tewe it. Morter neaver doeth well unlesse it bee well wrought in, Elmswell

1695 she told him the rogue Ely had soe tew’d her till she had noe breath, Rotherham. In 1582, it was used along with ‘taw’ in the Skinners’ Ordinances in York. It survives in dialect with the sense of ‘to toil’.

dates 1310 1395 1488 1567 1582 1642 1695

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