holwe

Middle English

Etymology 1

From holgh (“hollow”, noun), influenced by the meaning of hol, hole (“hollow, concave”, adjective).

Adjective

holwe

1. hollow
   • c. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue: The Clerk's Tale, ll. 290–291:

     And he nas nat right fat, I undertake, but looked holwe, and therto sobrely...

     And he too was not fat, that I take, But he looked hollow, moreover, abstemiously.

Alternative forms

• holewe, holow, holowe, holo, holu, holuo, holw, holgh, holȝ, holȝe, holh, holeh, holeuh, hologh, hologhe, holoȝe, holough, holouȝ, holouȝe, holowh, holugh, holuȝ, holuȝe, holwgh, holwȝ, holwh

Descendants

• English: hollow
• Scots: hallae

References

• “holwe, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

holwe (plural holwes)

1. Alternative form of holgh