prow
pronunciation
How to pronounce prow in British English:
UK [praʊ]
How to pronounce prow in American English:
US [praʊ]
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- Noun:
- front part of a vessel or aircraft
Word Origin
- prow
- prow: [16] ‘Being in front’ is the etymological notion that underlies prow. It comes ultimately from Greek próira ‘front of a ship’, which was probably a derivative of Indo-European *pro ‘before, in front’. It reached English via Latin prōra and Old French proue.
- prow (n.)
- "forepart of a ship," 1550s, from Middle French proue, from Italian (Genoese) prua, from Vulgar Latin *proda, by dissimilation from Latin prora "prow," from Greek proira, related to pro "before, forward," proi "early in the morning," from PIE *pre-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per). Middle English and early Modern English (and Scott) had prore in same sense, from Latin. Modern Italian has proda only in sense "shore, bank." Prow and poop meant "the whole ship," hence 16c.-17c. figurative use of the expression for "the whole" (of anything).