arrow English · revision 7472

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 835|origins=ine-pro *arkʷ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæ.ɹəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈæɹə/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English arewe, arwe, [[inh|ang|arwe]], earlier earh,^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) probably borrowed from Old Norse [[m|non|ǫr|t=arrow]] (genitive ǫrvar),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from Proto-Germanic *arhwō, related to Gothic arhwazna, dart,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and to Latin [[m|la|arcus|t=bow]] (see [[arc]]), from PIE *arkʷ-.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The etymological sense would be the thing belonging to the bow.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A pointed missile shot from a bow: earh before 800, in Cynewulf, and arwan before 835;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) aro and arow before 1325, in the ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a rare word in Old English, where the usual words were stræl, which had disappeared by 1200, and flā, from Old Norse, which lingered as flo in Scots until after 1500.^(Etymonline) Figurative use is from about 1230.^(OED 1989) Surveyors' arrows, iron pins for chaining, are from 1571.^(OED 1989) An arrow-shaped mark or index is from 1834,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in darts slang a dart from 1946.^(OED 1989) The verb, to shoot arrows, is from 1865.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 800 – earh.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 835 – arwan.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1230 – figurative use.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1571 – surveyors' arrows.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1834 – an arrow-shaped mark.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1946 – a dart.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A thin, straight shaft with a pointed head, often feathered at the other end, shot from a [[bow]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A symbol shaped like an arrow, used to show direction.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arrowless]]

+ * [[arrowlike]]

+ * [[arrowwood]]

+ * [[arrowworm]]

+ * [[arrowsmith]]

+ * [[arrowhead]]

+ * [[arrowroot]]

+ * [[arrowy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arc]]

+ * [[arch]]

+ * [[archer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate dialect word, arrow, any, as in ''arrow one'', is from e'er a by folk etymology (1749),^(MWU 2024) recorded in Somerset by the EDD.^(Wright 1898) Word Origins notes that ''arrowroot'' is probably an alteration of Arawak haru, starch, made to match arrow and root.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}