Other forms: strewed, strewing
To strew is to scatter things loosely over a surface. Strew flowers, strewn with wreckage, strew the path.
The past participle strewn is far commoner than the verb, and it usually describes an aftermath — a road strewn with debris. Strewing herbs on floors was normal in houses before sanitation. Straw and strew are the same root.
1verbstrewTo scatter things loosely over a surface.
“Flower girls strew rose petals in front of the bride.”
strew is a scattering.
Old English strewian means to scatter, from a Germanic root. Straw and street come from the same spreading.
Proto-Indo-European
*strew- — to spread, scatter
Proto-Germanic
*strawjaną — to strew
Proto-West Germanic
*strauwjan
Old English
strewian
Middle English
strewen
English, today
strew
Built from
From Middle English strewen, strawen, streowen, from Old English strewian, strēawian, strēowian (“to strew, scatter”), from Proto-West Germanic strauwjan, from Proto-Germanic strawjaną (“to strew”), from Proto-Indo-European strew- (“to spread, scatter”). Cognate with Scots strow, straw (“to strew”), West Frisian streauwe (“to strew”), Dutch strooien (“to strew, scatter, sprinkle”), German streuen (“to strew, scatter”), Swedish strö (“to strew”), Icelandic strá (“to strew”), Norwegian Nynorsk strå (“to strew”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA