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Added 9 October 2026

stew

/stʃʉː/ noun

In Latin: copadium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about stew at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
A heated bath-room or steam-room; also, a hot bath.
A brothel.

verb

To cook (food) by slowly boiling or simmering.
I'm going to stew some meat for the casserole.
To brew (tea) for too long, so that the flavour becomes too strong.
To suffer under uncomfortably hot conditions.

noun

A cloud of fine particles or droplets; dust, smoke, vapor, mist, or sea-spray.

noun

A steward or stewardess on an airplane or boat.

Origin

From Middle English stewe, stue, from Anglo-Norman estouve, Old French estuve (“bath, bathhouse”) (modern French étuve), from Medieval Latin stupha, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *extufāre, from ex- + Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, steam”), from τύφω (túphō, “to smoke”). See also Italian stufare, Portuguese estufar. Compare also Old English stuf-bæþ (“a hot-air bath, vapour bath”); see stove.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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