bow
pronunciation
How to pronounce bow in British English:
UK [baʊ]
How to pronounce bow in American English:
US [baʊ]
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- Noun:
- a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
- a slightly curved piece of resilient wood with taut horsehair strands, used in playing certain stringed instrument
- front part of a vessel or aircraft
- curved piece of resilient wood with taut cord to propel arrows
- something curved in shape
- bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame
- an appearance by actors or performers at the end of the concert or play in order to acknowledge the applause of the audience
- a decorative interlacing of ribbons
- a stroke with a curved piece of wood with taut horsehair strands that is used in playing stringed instruments
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- Verb:
- bend one's knee or body, or lower one's head
- submit or yield to another's wish or opinion
- bend the head or the upper part of the body in a gesture of respect or greeting
- bend one's back forward from the waist on down
- play on a string instrument
Word Origin
- bow
- bow: There are three distinct words bow in English, although two of them, ‘arrow-shooter’ [OE] and ‘bend the body’ [OE], are ultimately related. Bow for arrows comes from Old English boga, which also meant more generally ‘arch’; its source was Germanic *bugon, a derivative of *bug-, the short stem of *beugan. This *beugan was also the source of Old English bōgan, antecedent of modern English bow ‘bend the body’, while the short stem lies additionally behind bright [OE] and bout [16]. Buxom, which originally meant ‘flexible’ and ‘obedient’, derived from bow ‘bend the body’.The other bow ‘front of a boat’ [15] was probably borrowed from Dutch boeg, a word related to English bough.=> bight, bout, buxom; bough
- bow (v.)
- Old English bugan "to bend, to bow down, to bend the body in condescension," also "to turn back" (class II strong verb; past tense beag, past participle bogen), from Proto-Germanic *bugon (cognates: Dutch buigen, Middle Low German bugen, Old High German biogan, German biegen, Gothic biugan "to bend," Old Norse boginn "bent"), from *beugen, from PIE root *bheug- (3) "to bend," with derivatives referring to bent, pliable, or curved objects (cognates: Sanskrit bhujati "bends, thrusts aside;" Old High German boug, Old English beag "a ring"). The noun in this sense is first recorded 1650s. Related: Bowed; bowing. Bow out "withdraw" is from 1942.
- bow (n.1)
- weapon for shooting arrows, Old English boga "archery bow, arch, rainbow," from Proto-Germanic *bugon (cognates: Old Norse bogi, Old Frisian boga, Dutch boog, German Bogen "bow;" see bow (v.)). The sense of "a looped knot" is from 1540s. The musician's bow (1570s) formerly was curved like the archer's. Bowlegged is attested from 1550s.
- bow (n.2)
- "front of a ship," mid-14c., from Old Norse bogr or Middle Dutch boech "bow of a ship," literally "shoulder (of an animal)," the connecting notion being "the shoulders of the ship." See bough.
Example
- 1. China has complicated feelings about the bow .
- 2. One was with a bow , named lance .
- 3. The first is that the primary bow arches nearly straight up .
- 4. This girl has literally given you a big beautiful package with a fluffy bow .
- 5. Uniformed prisoners shuffle in lockstep behind guards and bow before entering rooms .