strew

Etymology

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”). Cognates 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”).

verb

1. (dated, except strewn) To distribute objects or pieces of something over an area, especially in a random manner.
   to strew sand over a floor
   The files had been strewn all over the floor.
2. (archaic) To cover, or lie upon, by having been scattered.
   Leaves strewed the ground.
   The snow which does the top of Pindus strew. 1596, Edmund Spenser, Prothalamion
3. (transitive, archaic) To spread abroad; to disseminate.
4. To populate with at random points; to cause to appear randomly distributed throughout.
   error-strewn