I. ˈȯ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English awe, age, aghe, from Old Norse agi; akin to Old English ege awe, fear, terror — more at ail
1. obsolete : intense fear : dread , terror
waits for death with dread and trembling awe — Edmund Spenser
2. archaic : the power to inspire fear or reverence
you see, my lord, what an awe you have upon me — John Dryden
3. : fear mixed with dread, veneration, reverence, or wonder: as
a. : profound and reverent fear inspired by deity
awe of the judgments of God — Daniel Defoe
b. : abashed reverence and fear inspired by authority or power
nothing but an extreme awe of your authority has hitherto prevented me from forcing my impertinent attentions upon you — Dorothy Sayers
c. : veneration and latent fear inspired by something sacred, mysterious, or morally impressive
jaguars were regarded with religious awe and were the object of a cult — Alfred Métraux
d. : reverent wonder with a touch of fear inspired by the grand or sublime especially in nature or art
the bird was so beautiful that the vision of it … seemed to bring with it an overpowering sense of awe — J.C.Powys
II. transitive verb
( awed ; awed ; awing ˈȯ(.)iŋ ; awes )
Etymology: Middle English awen, from awe, n.
1. : to inspire with awe : frighten , terrify
the exalted nature of the personage to whom she was being taken awed her — P.I.Wellman
nature among the mountains is too fierce, too strong for man … and she awes him — Charles Kingsley
2. : to influence, control, or check by inspiring with awe
her pained reserve had no power to awe them into decency — Joseph Conrad
III. ˈȯ, ˈȧ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French auve, aube, perhaps from Latin alapa box on the ear; perhaps akin to Old Norse lōfi palm of the hand — more at glove
1. : one of the boards or buckets against which the water acts in an undershot mill wheel
2. : one of the sails of a windmill