hew

Etymology

Came into English via Middle English hewen, which developed from Old English hēawan, from Proto-West Germanic *hauwan, from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to strike, hew, forge”). It is cognate with West Frisian houwe (“to hew”), Cimbrian hauan (“to dig”), Dutch houwen (“to hew”), German hauen (“to hew”), Luxembourgish haen (“to chop”), Danish hugge (“to hew”), Faroese høgga (“to hew”), Icelandic höggva (“to hew”), Norwegian Bokmål hogge, hugge (“to hew”), Norwegian Nynorsk hogga (“to hew”), and Swedish hugga (“to hew”). Sense 3 comes from the phrase hew to the line, literally “cut evenly with an axe or saw”.