Origin and history of taws

"prepare (leather, skin, hide) for use," Middle English tauen, from Old English tawian, getawian "prepare, make ready, make; cultivate," also "harass, insult, outrage," from Proto-Germanic *tawōjanan (source also of Old Frisian tawa, Old Saxon toian, Middle Dutch tauwen, Dutch touwen, Old High German zouwen "to prepare," Old High German zawen "to succeed," Gothic taujan "to make, prepare").

This is reconstructed to be from a Proto-Germanic root *taw- "to make, manufacture" (compare tool (n.), and Old English towcraft "spinning"). Boutkan offers no IE etymology for it and writes that the derivation given in Pokorny "seems unlikely for semantic reasons" (and notes that Pokorny himself expressed doubts).

Specifically "to tan or cure by alum and salt." Related: Tawed; tawing. Agent noun tauier, tawyer, tower is attested from early 14c., mid-13c. as a surname.