rowen
noun/ˈɹaʊən/
Etymology From Middle English rewayn, from Anglo-Norman rewain, from an Old Northern French variant of Old French regain (“an increase”), from re- + gaigner (“to till, win”). The alternative forms represent replacement of unanalysable final /ən/ with the more tractable suffixes -et, -ing; roughing presumably relies on a lost pronunciation of rough as /ˈɹaʊ/.
1
Archaic A second crop of hay (within a growing season).
2
A stubble field left unploughed until late in the autumn, so that it can be cropped by cattle.
- For the wintering of cattle, about September you must turn them out that you design to keep up for a winter or a spring market, and your cows, that give milk into your rowens, till snow or a hard frost comes, and they will need no fodder.1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
- Related terms
- stover