sow

English "sow" comes from Middle English "sowe," from Old English "sugu," from Proto-West Germanic "*sugu," from Proto-Germanic "*sugō." It likely traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "pig."

The word has stayed remarkably stable in both form and meaning — a female pig in Old English is still a female pig today.

It's a doublet of "soor" and is closely tied to "swine," both branches of the same ancient word for pig; cognates include Welsh "hwch," Latin "sūs," and Ancient Greek "hûs," all pointing to a shared Indo-European word for the animal.