bow

bow¹ to bend; act of bowing

Etymology

The verb meaning to bend is inherited from Middle English bowen, earlier bouwen, buwen and buhen,^[6][3] inherited from Old English būgan (“to bend”),^[6][3][7] originally a strong verb (past tense bēah).^[8][4] It comes from Proto-Germanic *beuganą,^[1][9] and is cognate with Middle Dutch bûghen, Dutch buigen, Old High German biogan, German biegen and Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌲𐌰𐌽 (biugan).^{[8][10][6][3]} Outside Germanic, Orel compares Irish fid-bocc (“wooden bow”);^[9][11] the root is Proto-Indo-European *bheug- (“to bend”).^[12] The noun, an inclination of the head or body, is formed from the verb in the 17th century.^[8][6][4] The weapon bow² is from the short stem of the same Germanic verb.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bend: about 725, in Beowulf.^[6] The OED's first quotation for the sense "to assume a bent shape" is from The Dream of the Rood.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the verb meant to bend, to turn aside or retreat, to make one's way, to curve, and to submit or yield;^[8] most of these literal senses were later taken over by bend.^[8] Bending the body or knee in reverence or submission is also Old English,^[8] while the polite bow of greeting or acknowledgement is recorded from 1651.^[8] Weekley notes that the causative sense was originally carried by a separate Old English verb, bīegan, to cause to bow.^[4] The noun for the act of bowing is first recorded before 1656, in Cowley,^[8][6] and the phrase make one's bow meant to retire or leave the stage.^[8] The adjective buxom originally meant "pliant, obedient" and comes from this verb.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English būgan, to bend, in Beowulf.^[6]
• c. 1200 – to stoop, lower the head and upper body.^[8]
• c. 1250 – Middle English buhen, buwen;^[6] bowen before 1325.^[6]
• 1651 – to incline the head or body in greeting or acknowledgement.^[8]
• before 1656 – noun, an inclination of the body in salutation or respect.^[8][6][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bend the head, body or knee as a sign of respect, greeting, submission or worship: The actors bowed to the audience.^[13][12]
2. To yield or submit: The council bowed to public pressure.^[13][12][3]
3. To bend or curve downward; to stoop: The branches bowed under the snow.^[12][13]
4. To usher someone in or out with bows: The waiter bowed them to their table.^[13][12]
5. To weigh down; to crush: bowed down by worry.^[12][13]

Noun

1. An inclination of the head or body in greeting, respect, thanks or assent.^[13][12][8]
2. take a bow: to acknowledge applause.^[13][10]

Word family

• bowingly
• outbow

bow² weapon; curve; knot

Etymology

The weapon is inherited from Middle English bowe, inherited from Old English boga (“bow, arch, rainbow”),^[2][7][3] from Proto-Germanic *bugô,^[1][2] a derivative of the short stem of *beuganą, the source of bow¹.^[1][8][7] It is cognate with Old Frisian boga, Old Saxon bogo, Dutch boog, Old High German bogo, German Bogen and Old Norse bogi.^[8][10][11] In Old English boga also appears in elnboga, elbow, and rēnboga, rainbow.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something curved, an arch or vault: about 700; a weapon for shooting arrows: about 725, in the compound flanboga, arrow-bow.^[2] The OED's earliest quotation for the weapon is in the Gnomic Verses, and for an arch in Beowulf.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Weekley names the archer's bow, an arch and the rainbow as the three oldest senses.^[4] From the weapon the word passed to many curved or bent things: a curve or bent line in general (1387), an arch of a bridge (now dialect), an ox yoke, and the curved stroke of a letter (1914).^[8][3][10] A knot with one or two loops, or a ribbon tied in one, is dated to the mid-16th century by the Shorter Oxford and to 1671 by Barnhart.^[10][2] The rod strung with horsehair for playing the violin and other stringed instruments is recorded from the late 16th century,^[10] and the verb "to play with a bow" from 1838.^[8][10] Figurative phrases include to have two strings to one's bow, to have more than one resource (about 1532).^[8]

Timeline

• c. 700 – Old English boga, something curved, an arch.^[2]
• c. 725 – a weapon for shooting arrows, in flanboga.^[2]
• before 1200 – Middle English bowe, in Laȝamon's Brut.^[2]
• 1387 – a curve, a bent line.^[8]
• c. 1532 – two strings to one's bow.^[8]
• mid 16th century – a knot with loops.^[10] Barnhart dates this sense to 1671.^[2]
• late 16th century – a rod strung with horsehair for playing a stringed instrument.^[10]
• 1838 – verb, to play with a bow.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A weapon for shooting arrows, made of a strip of flexible wood or other material bent by a string joining its ends.^[3][10][8]
2. A rod with horsehair stretched along it, used to play the violin and other stringed instruments.^[10][3]
3. A knot tied with one or two loops; a ribbon tied in this way: She tied the parcel with a red bow.^[10][2]
4. Something bent into a curve; an arch or bend.^[3][10][8]
5. A rainbow.^[3][10][8]
6. (obsolete except in dialect) An arch of a bridge or gateway.^[8][10][3]

Verb

1. To play a stringed instrument with a bow.^[8][10][3]
2. To bend into a curve: The wall bowed outward.^[3]

Word family

• bowman
• bowlike
• bowless

bow³ front of a ship

Etymology

The front of a ship is probably a borrowing from Low German or Dutch:^{[1][12][14][10]} according to the Shorter Oxford and the “Oxford Dictionary of English”, it is borrowed from Dutch boeg, "shoulder, bow of a ship", or the related Low German boog,^[10][14] and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate derives Middle English bowe, bowgh from Middle Dutch boech.^[15] Barnhart also allows a Scandinavian source,^[2] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged derives the noun from Danish bov (“bow, shoulder”), from Old Norse bógr.^[3] The OED leaves the source open among Middle Low German, Dutch and Danish.^[8] These words go back to Proto-Germanic *bōguz (“shoulder, upper arm”),^[16][9] the source of bough, so this bow is related to bough and not to bow¹ or bow².^[1][4][17] The Shorter Oxford notes that its pronunciation was influenced by the verb meaning to bend.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The front of a ship: 1342, in the name of a ship, Swetebowe, and as bowe in 1409–11.^[2] The Shorter Oxford and the “Oxford Dictionary of English” date it to late Middle English, Ayto to the 15th century,^[10][14][1] while the OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged, whose entries have not been revised, give 1626, in John Smith's Accidence.^[8][3]

Semantic evolution

Sailors said that an object was on the bow when it lay within 45° of straight ahead (1626).^[8] From 1830 the word also named the rower nearest the bow, and in 1858 it became a verb, of a ship, to cut through the water with its bow.^[8] A shot across the bows, a warning statement or gesture, comes from naval warfare, where it is a shot meant not to hit but to make a ship stop or change course.^[17]

Timeline

• 1342 – in the ship name Swetebowe;^[2] bowe in 1409–11.^[2]
• 1626 – the front part of a ship;^[8][3] on the bow.^[8]
• 1830 – the rower nearest the bow.^[8]
• 1858 – verb, of a ship, to cut the water with its bow.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The front part of a ship or boat, where the sides curve in to the stem; often in the plural: Waves broke over the bows.^[12][3][8]
2. Either side of this front part: a light on the port bow.^[12][8]
3. The rower or oar nearest the bow of a racing boat.^[12][8][3]