From Middle English tawen, from Old English tawian (“to do, make”), from Proto-West Germanic *tawōn, a variant of Proto-West Germanic *tauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *tawjaną (“to make, prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”).
Cognate with Dutch touwen (“to rope, tether, curry”), Dutch tuien (“to fasten with ropes”), German Tau (“rope, hawser, cable”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “to make, prepare”). Related to tool and possibly to tether.
From Middle English tawen, from Old English tawian (“to do, make”), from Proto-West Germanic *tawōn, a variant of Proto-West Germanic *tauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *tawjaną (“to make, prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”).
Cognate with Dutch touwen (“to rope, tether, curry”), Dutch tuien (“to fasten with ropes”), German Tau (“rope, hawser, cable”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “to make, prepare”). Related to tool and possibly to tether.
Meanings
(obsolete, transitive) To prepare or dress, as hemp, by beating; to tew.
(broadly, transitive) To beat; to scourge.
(transitive) To dress and prepare, as the skins of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids, for gloves, etc., by imbuing them with alum, salt, and other agents, for softening and bleaching them.
(transitive) To dress and prepare, as the skins of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids, for gloves, etc., by imbuing them with alum, salt, and other agents, for softening and bleaching them. ▸ To turn (animals' hide) into leather, usually by soaking it in a certain solution.
Unknown. Attested in English from the 18th century. Compare Old English tāw (“instrument”). Also compare Irish togh (“choose, elect”).
Meanings
A favorite marble in the game of marbles.
Near the timberyard a squatted child at marbles, alone, shooting the taw with a cunnythumb. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 5]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:
A line or mark from which the players begin a game of marbles.