maw

Meaning

The stomach, especially of an animal.
The upper digestive tract (where food enters the body), especially the mouth and jaws of a fearsome and ravenous creature.
(slang) The mouth.
Any large, insatiable or perilous opening.
Appetite; inclination.
The swim bladder of a fish, especially when used as food in Chinese cuisine.

abomasum

mouth

upper respiratory tract

upper airway

stoma

crop of a bird

maw seed

oral fissure

station throat

rennet-bag

reed tripe

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/mɔː/

From Middle English mawe, maghe, maȝe, from Old English maga (“stomach; maw”), from Proto-West Germanic *magō, from Proto-Germanic *magô (“belly; stomach”), from Proto-Indo-European *mak-, *maks- (“bag, bellows, belly”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian mage, Dutch maag (“stomach; belly”), German Low German Maag, German Magen (“stomach”), Danish mave, Norwegian mage (“stomach”), Swedish mage (“stomach; belly”), and also with Welsh megin (“bellows”), archaic Russian мошна́ (mošná, “pocket, bag”), Lithuanian mãkas (“purse”), Finnish maha (“stomach”), Estonian magu (“stomach”).