From Middle English stowe, from Old English stōw (“place, location”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōu, from Proto-Germanic *stōō (“a place, stowage”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place, put”). Cognate with Old Frisian stō (“place”), Icelandic stó (“fireplace”), Dutch stouw (“place”), German Stau (“congestion”). See also -stow.
From Middle English stowen, stawen, stewen, from Old English stōwian (“to hold back, restrain”), from Proto-Germanic *stōōną, *stōjaną (“to stow, dam up”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place”). Cognate with Dutch stuwen, stouwen (“to stow”), Low German stauen (“to blin, halt, hinder”), German stauen (“to halt, hem in, stow, pack”).
Meanings
(obsolete, transitive) A cry used by falconers to call their birds back down to hand.
His seconde hawke wexyd gery […]
on the rode loft
She perkyd her to rest.
The fauconer then was prest,
Came runnynge with a dow,
And cryed, ‘Stow, stow, stow!’
But she wold not bow. c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 63, lines 66, 69–74:
From Middle English stowen, stawen, stewen, from Old English stōwian (“to hold back, restrain”), from Proto-Germanic *stōōną, *stōjaną (“to stow, dam up”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place”). Cognate with Dutch stuwen, stouwen (“to stow”), Low German stauen (“to blin, halt, hinder”), German stauen (“to halt, hem in, stow, pack”).
Meanings
(transitive) To put something away in a compact and tidy manner, in its proper place, or in a suitable place.
(transitive) To store or pack something in a space-saving manner and over a long time.
Yet everybody knows that a cargo properly stowed in a seaworthy craft reaches market in much the better condition than by rail, though perhaps it is some hours longer on the way. 1922, James A. Cooper, Sheila of Big Wreck Cove:
(transitive) To arrange, pack, or fill something tightly or closely.
(transitive) To dispose of, lodge, or hide somebody somewhere.
Ar.[…]The Marriners all vnder hatches ſtowed, / Who, with a Charme ioynd to their ſuffred labour / I haue left aſleep :[…] 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 3:
(obsolete, slang, transitive) To cease; to stop doing something.
But when I strove my flame to tell, / Says she, 'Come, stow that patter, / If you're a cove wot likes a gal, / Vy don't you stand some gatter?' / In course I instantly complied— / Two brimming quarts of porter, / With sev'ral goes of gin beside, / Drain'd Bet the Coaley's daughter. Bet the Coaley's Daughter (traditional song)
“Come, come,” said Silver; “stow this talk. He’s dead, and he don’t walk, that I know; leastways, he won’t walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons.” 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
ca desar (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · bg подреждам (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · fr garder (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · de verstauen (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · hu helyez (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · it immagazzinare (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · es estibar (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · es abarrotar (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · bg сгъвам (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · es almacenar (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · it compattare (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · ca emmagatzemar (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · ru убира́ть (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · fi panna talteen (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · es guardar (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · fr conserver (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · it montare (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · ru укла́дывать (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · fi pakata (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · ru скла́дывать (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · hu tesz (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · fi pakata (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · hu elraktároz (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · bg опаковам (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · it ammainare (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · hu elpakol (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · it raggruppare (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · de verstauen (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · hu rak (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · it assemblare (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · es arrumar (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · fr stocker (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · hu elhelyez (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · nb stue (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · hu eltesz (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · bg прибирам (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · hu elrak (to put something away to store it in a space-saving manner and over long time) · hu elrak (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · it traversare (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner) · fr ranger (to put something away in a compact and tidy manner)