E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Rowned in the Ear.
Whispered in the ear. The old word rown, rowned (to whisper, to talk in private). Polonius says to the king in Hamlet—“Let his queen-mother all alone entreat him to show his grief—let her be rowned with him;” not blunt and loud, but in private converse. (See ROUND,To.)
