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Added 7 October 2026

bow

/ˈbəʊ̯/ symbol

In Latin: arcus Wiktionary

symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bow at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

ISO 639-3 language code for Rema.

noun

A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.

verb

To play music on (a stringed) instrument using a bow.
The musician bowed his violin expertly.
To bend or curve, particularly downward.
The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.
To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend or incline, figuratively; to humble or subdue.

verb

To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.
That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.
To debut.
To defer (to something).
I bow to your better judgement in the matter.

Origin

From Middle English bowe, from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō, from Proto-Germanic *bugô. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Booge (“arch, bow, curve”), West Frisian bôge (“arc, arch, bow”), Dutch boog (“arc, arch, bow”), German Bogen (“arc, arch, bow, curve”), Luxembourgish Bou (“arc, arch, bow, curve”), Vilamovian böga (“arc, arch, bend, bow, curve”), Yiddish בויגן (boygn, “arc, arch, bow, curve”), Danish bue (“arc, arch, bow, curve”), Faroese and Icelandic bogi (“arch, bow, vault”), Jamtish buga (“bow”), Norwegian Bokmål bue (“arc, arch, bow”), Norwegian Nynorsk boge (“arc, arch, bow”), Swedish båge (“bow”), Crimean Gothic boga (“bow”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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