Etymology: < strew v.

Etymology: Common Germanic weak verb: Old English stręwian , streowian , streawian , corresponds (except for differences of conjugation) to Old Frisian strewa , Old Saxon past tense plural strôidun , streidun (Middle Low German strôien , streien ), Middle Dutch strôien (modern Dutch strooien ), Old High German strouwen , strewen (Middle High German ströuwen , modern German streuen ), Old Norse strá (but Middle Swedish ströa , Swedish strö , Danish strø , are from Middle Low German), Gothic (*straujan ) past tense strawida , < Germanic root *strau- ; the ulterior relations are uncertain, but most scholars assume some kind of connection with the Indogermanic root *ster- (extended *strā- ) in Latin sternĕre , past participle strātus : see stratum n.The Old English forms representing the original Germanic conjugation are: *stríegan , etc. (see stray v.¹) = Gothic straujan, and past tense stręwede = Gothic strawida. The original present-stem. in Old English (as in some other Germanic languages) was superseded by a new-formation after the past tense. Owing to the influence of the following w, the umlaut -ę became diphthongized, producing the forms streow-, streaw-. The Old English forms with ę or falling diphthong are represented by the α forms above, while streow- pronounced with a rising diphthong gave rise to the β forms. According to modern usage, the two spellings correspond to the two pronunciations; formerly, the spelling strew was often used where the rhyme was a word like so, and conversely strow rhyming with new etc. The rare γ forms stroy(e are apparently borrowed from or influenced by Dutch strooien. The past participle is now most commonly strewn or strown in passive tenses, especially where there is no distinct reference to an agent; and strewed, strowed in active tenses.