bowman
bowman1 archer
Pronunciation
Etymology
The archer is formed from English bow (“weapon for shooting arrows”) + man,[2][3][4] first as inherited from Middle English boweman.[5] As a surname it is recorded from the early 13th century, earlier than the common noun.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
A man who shoots with a bow, especially a soldier armed with one: 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
Johnson (1755) defined it simply as an archer, quoting the King James Bible's "the horsemen and bowmen".[4][2] In 1610 the word was also the name of a fish, a sense since lost.[2] From 1815 bowman's root named several American plants.[2]
Timeline
- early 13th century – as a surname.[3]
- 1297 – an archer, especially a soldier armed with a bow.[2]
- 1610 – a kind of fish (obsolete).[2]
- 1815 – bowman's root, the name of several plants.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- An archer; a person, especially a soldier, who shoots with a bow: The king's bowmen lined the walls.[6][5][2]
bowman2 oarsman at the bow
Pronunciation
- /ˈbaʊmən/[1]
Etymology
The oarsman is formed separately from English bow (“front part of a boat”) + man.[2][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
The oarsman who sits nearest the bow of a boat: 1829, in F. Marryat's The Naval Officer.[2][5]
Semantic evolution
Merriam-Webster also records the word for a logger who rides in the front of a boat and steers floating logs with a pike pole.[5]
Timeline
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- archer
- bow
- oarsman
Usage notes
Bowman's capsule, Bowman's glands and Bowman's membrane, terms of anatomy recorded from 1882, are named after the English surgeon William Bowman (1816–1892).[2][3] In 18th-century thieves' cant a bowman was a thief, and all's bowman meant that everything was in order, perhaps from French beau (“fine, handsome”).[7]
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
- ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com