Sinew
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A cord or tendon of the body.
- 2 possessing muscular strength wordnet
- 3 A cord or string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
- 4 a cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment wordnet
- 5 Muscular power, muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength. figuratively
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- 6 That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting factor or member; mainstay. figuratively, in-plural, often
"[S]he loſt a noble and renowned brother, in his loue toward her, euer moſt kinde and naturall: with him the portion and ſinew of her fortune, her marriage dowry: with both, her combynate-husband, this well-ſeeming Angelo."
- 7 A nerve. obsolete
- 1 To knit together or make strong with, or as if with, sinews. transitive
"And now to London with Triumphant march, / There to be crowned Englands Royall King: / From whence, ſhall Warwicke cut the Sea to France, / And aske the Ladie Bona for thy Queene: / So ſhalt thou ſinow both theſe Lands together, / And hauing France thy Friend, thou ſhalt not dread / The ſcattred Foe, that hopes to riſe againe: […]"
Example
More examples"And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank."
Etymology
From Middle English synwe, synewe (“tendon; ligament or other connective tissue; muscle; nerve; leaf vein”), from Old English sinu (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), from Proto-West Germanic *sinu, from Proto-Germanic *sinwō, *senawō (“sinew”), from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”), from *(s)neh₁- (“to twist (threads), spin, weave”). The word is cognate with sinnow (“sinew”), Scots senon, sinnon, Saterland Frisian Siene (“sinew”), West Frisian senuw, sine (“sinew; nerve”), Dutch zenuw (“nerve, sinew”), German Sehne (“tendon, sinew; cord”), Icelandic sin (“tendon”), Swedish sena (“sinew”), Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬁𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭 (snāuuar, “tendon, sinew”), Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “tendon; nerve; cord”), Latin nervus (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), Sanskrit स्नावन् (snāván, “sinew, tendon; muscle”), Tocharian B ṣñor (“sinew”). Doublet of nerve and neuron.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.