Etymology From Middle English dew, from Old English dēaw (“dew”), from Proto-West Germanic *dauw, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz, *dawwą (“dew, moisture”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke, haze”). Cognate with German Tau, Dutch dauw and Afrikaans dou. Doublet of dag.
1
Any moisture from the atmosphere condensed by cool bodies upon their surfaces.
2
Moisture in the air that settles on plants, etc in the morning or evening, resulting in drops.
And Gideon said vnto God, If thou wilt saue Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Beholde, I will put a fleece of wooll in the floore: and if the deaw be on the fleece onely, and it bee drie vpon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt saue Israel by my hande, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose vp early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the deaw out of the fleece, a bowle full of water. And Gideon said vnto God, Let not thine anger be hote against me, and I will speake but this once: Let mee prooue, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece. Let it now be drie onely vpon the fleece, and vpon all the ground let there be deaw. And God did so that night: for it was drie vpon the fleece onely, and there was deaw on all the ground.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 6:36–40:
As therefore the morning devv, is a pavvne of the evenings fatneſſe, ſo, O Lord, let this daies comfort be the earneſt of to morrowes, […]1624, John Donne, “19. Prayer”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, page 508:
1 more example
Tree don't care what the little bird sings / We go down with the dew in the morning light / The tree don't know what the little bird brings / We go down with the dew in the morning2013, “We No Who U R”, in Warren Ellis, Nick Cave (lyrics), Push the Sky Away, performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:
3
An instance of such moisture settling on plants, etc.
But see usage notes
There was a heavy dew this morning.
On their entrance, Aylmer was greeted by a new surprise—his daughter Lucy, whom he very naturally supposed was quietly in her bed, lay on the window-seat, the casement open, and herself asleep; but the traces of tears were upon her cheek, and her long fair hair loose, and yet saturated with the dews of the night.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 72:
4
Figuratively Anything that falls lightly and in a refreshing manner.
the golden dew of sleepc. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
5
Figuratively An emblem of morning, or fresh vigour.
Thy people ſhalbe willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holineſſe from the wombe of the morning: thou haſt the dew of thy youth.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 110:3:
the dew of his youth1858 October 16, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Courtship of Miles Standish”, in The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English dewe, dewen, from Old English *dēawian, from Proto-West Germanic *dauwēn, from Proto-Germanic *dawwāną. Cognates include Saterland Frisian daue, German tauen and Dutch dauwen.
1
To wet with, or as if with, dew; to moisten.
The grasses grew / A little ranker since they dewed them so.1887, Andrew B. Saxton, “Sunken Graves”, in The Century:
2
To deposit dew.
The former [substances extremely attentuated, or in a filamentous and downly state] collect dew copiously, while the latter [solids] so rarely indicate its presence, even when it is dewing freely on contiguous substances, that some observers have doubted whether it ever happened, and have been disposed to believe that they repel it.1831, The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for ..., page 80:
Yesterday she tied Kenneth to a tree and left him there for hours when it was dewing.1929, Cecily Sidgwick, Six of Them, page 118:
1 more example
Withdraw heat from a gas, and it will dew into a liquid. Subtract more heat, and a solid forms.2017, Sam Kean, Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us: