# bow
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English bowe, from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō, from Proto-Germanic *bugô.
Cognate with West Frisian bôge, Dutch boog, German Bogen, Swedish båge.

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bō, IPA: /bəʊ/
* (General American) enPR: bō, IPA: /boʊ/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -əʊ
* Homophone: beau

#### Noun

bow (plural bows)
* (archery) 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).
* (music) A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
* A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
* A type of knot with two loops, used to tie together two cords such as shoelaces or apron strings, and frequently used as decoration, such as in gift-wrapping.
* Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 9:13:I do set my bow in the cloud.
* The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.
* Either of the arms of a pair of spectacles, running from the side of the lens to behind the wearer's ear.
** 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:[…] she kept toying with a pair of old sunglasses which lay beside her on the kitchen table. One of the bows had been mended with adhesive tape, and one of the lenses was cracked.
* Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging hair, fur, etc., used by hatters.
* (nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
* (saddlery) Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddle tree.
* The part of a key that is not inserted into the lock and that is used to turn the key.
    Coordinate term: blade
* Either of the two handles of a pair of scissors.

##### Synonyms

* (bow-shaped bend): arc, bend, curve
* (tool for playing stringed instruments): fiddlestick
* (a type of stringed instrument): musical bow

##### Hyponyms

* composite bow
* compound bow
* crossbow
* longbow
* recurve bow
* selfbow
* shortbow
* stock-bow

##### Derived terms

* another string to one's bow
* barebow
* bow and arrow
* bowbearer
* bowbent
* bow bug
* bow collector
* bow compass
* bow drill
* bow-faced
* bowfin
* bow frame
* bowfront
* bow-fronted
* bow grip
* bowguard
* bow guard
* bow harp
* bowhead
* bowhunt
* bowhunter
* bowhunting
* bowhuntress
* Bow Island
* bow kite
* bowknot
* bowleg
* bow-legged
* bowless
* bowlike
* bow maker
* bowmaking
* bowman
* bowmanship
* bowmaster
* bow net
* bow pen
* bow pencil
* Bow River
* bow saw
* bowshot
* bowsman
* bow spring
* bowstave
* Bow Street
* bowstring
* bowstringer
* bowswoman
* bow tie
* bowtie
* bow window
* bowwoman
* bowyer
* Brocken bow
* Broken Bow
* brush bow
* cloud bow
* Cupid's bow
* dickie bow, dicky bow
* diddley bow
* down bow
* downbow
* draw a long bow
* draw the long bow
* drill bow
* facebow
* flax bow
* fogbow, fog bow
* footbow
* greatbow
* hairbow
* have two strings to one's bow
* jazz bow
* knuckle bow
* Medicine Bow
* midbow
* moonbow
* mouthbow
* musical bow
* overbow
* oxbow
* pelletbow
* play bow
* pull the long bow
* pussy bow
* pussycat bow
* rainbow
* saddlebow
* saddle bow
* sea-bow
* shaft bow
* Silver Bow
* Silver Bow County
* spray bow
* stonebow
* stone bow
* stretch the long bow
* string to one's bow
* sunbow
* torrent-bow
* up bow
* warbow
* xbow

##### Related terms

* buxom
* elbow

##### Translations

Abkhaz: ахыц (axəc)
Adyghe: кӏуснэщаб (kʷʼusnɛśab)
Afrikaans: boog (af)
Ainu: ク (ku)
Albanian: ber (sq) m, hark (sq) m
Apache:
Western Apache: iłtį́ʼtsį́h
Arabic: قَوْس (ar) m (qaws)
Egyptian Arabic: قوس m (ʔōs)
Hijazi Arabic: قوس m (gōs)
Armenian: աղեղ (hy) (aġeġ)
Aromanian: arcu, duxar n
Assamese: ধনু (dhonu)
Asturian: arcu m
Atayal: bhunig
Avar: чӏорбутӏ (čʼorbutʼ)
Aymara: please add this translation if you can
Azerbaijani: yay (az), kaman (az)
Bashkir: йәйә (yəyə)
Bats: ატყ (aṭq̇)
Bavarian: Bogn
Belarusian: лук m (luk)
Bengali: ধনু (bn) (dhonu)
Breton: gwareg (br)
Bulgarian: лък (bg) m (lǎk)
Burmese: လေး (my) (le:)
Catalan: arc (ca) m
Cebuano: gapasan
Chechen: ӏад (ˀad)
Cherokee: ᎦᏦᏗ (gatsodi)
Chichewa: uta
Chinese:
Cantonese: 弓 (gung$^1$)
Dungan: гун (gun)
Hokkien: 弓 (zh-min-nan) (keng)
Mandarin: 弓 (zh) (gōng)
Choctaw:
Modified traditional: itti' tana̲po
Traditional: iti tanampo
Chukchi: тиӈур (tiṇur)
Czech: luk (cs) m
Dakota: itazipe
Danish: bue c
Dutch: boog (nl) m
Egyptian: (pḏt f)
Esperanto: arko, pafarko
Estonian: vibu (et)
Evenki: бэр (bər)
Ewe: da n
Faroese: bogi m
Finnish: jousi (fi)
French: arc (fr) m, arc à flèches m
Friulian: arc m
Galician: arco (gl) m
Georgian: მშვილდი (ka) (mšvildi)
German: Bogen (de) m
Greek: τόξο (el) n (tóxo)
Ancient: τόξον n (tóxon)
Hadza: please add this translation if you can
Hebrew: קֶשֶׁת (he) f (késhet)
Hindi: धनुष (hi) m (dhanuṣ), कमान (hi) f (kamān)
Hungarian: íj (hu)
Icelandic: bogi (is) m
Ido: armarko, arko (io)
Indonesian: busur (id)
Ingrian: pankapyssy, vannepyssy
Ingush: ӏад (ˀad)
Interlingua: arco
Irish: bogha m
Isthmus Zapotec: please add this translation if you can
Italian: arco (it) m
Japanese: 弓 (ja) (ゆみ, yumi)
Jarai: hraŏ diu
Kaingang: vyj
Kanakanabu: rupacʉ
Karok: xuskáamhar
Kazakh: жақ (kk) (jaq), садақ (sadaq)
Ket: ӄыʼт
Khmer: ធ្នូ (km) (thnuu), ធនុ (km) (thĕəʼnuʼ)
Korean: 활 (ko) (hwal), 궁(弓) (ko) (gung)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کەوان (ckb) (kewan)
Northern Kurdish: kevan (ku) m
Kyrgyz: жаа (ky) (jaa)
Lakota: itázipa
Lao: ຄັນທະນູ (khan tha nū), ທະນຸ (tha nu)
Latgalian: lūks m
Latin: arcus (la) m
Latvian: loks (lv) m
Laz: ტოკსარი (ťoǩsari), მშვილდი (mşvildi)
Lithuanian: lankas m
Lokono: simarabo
Macedonian: лак m (lak)
Malay: busur (ms), panah (ms)
Malayalam: വില്ല് (ml) (villŭ)
Maltese: qaws m
Manchu: ᠪᡝᡵᡳ (beri)
Mansaka: bosog
Manx: bow m
Maori: whana
Maranao: pana'
Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭬𐭠𐭭 (kmʾn /⁠kamān⁠/)
Mingrelian: შქვილი (škvili)
Mohawk: please add this translation if you can
Mon: တ္ၚ (mnw)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: нум (mn) (num)
Mongolian: ᠨᠤᠮᠤ (numu)
Nanai: бури (buri)
Navajo: ałtį́į́ʼ
Nawdm: tab
Nepali: धनुष (dhanuṣ)
Nivkh: пуньдь (puņd̦)
Northern Altai: јаг (ǰag)
Northern Sami: dávgi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bue (no) m, boge m
Nynorsk: boge m
Occitan: arc (oc) m
Odia: କୋଦଣ୍ଡ (or) (kodaṇḍa)
Ojibwe: mitigwaab
Okinawan: please add this translation if you can
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: лѫкъ m (lǫkŭ)
Old English: boga m
Old Norse: bogi m
Ossetian: ӕрдӕн (ærdæn)
Pali: dhanu n
Pashto: ليندۍ f (lindᶕy)
Persian: کَمان (fa) (kamân)
Plautdietsch: Boage m
Polish: łuk (pl) m
Portuguese: arco (pt) m
Quechua: t'iwka
Romanian: arc (ro) m or f
Romansch: artg, arch
Russian: лук (ru) m (luk)
Samoan: ʻaufana
Sanskrit: धनु (sa) n (dhanu), चाप (sa) m (cāpa)
Sardinian: alcu, arcu
Scottish Gaelic: bogha m, bogha-saighde m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: лу̑к m
Roman: lȗk (sh) m
Shawnee: please add this translation if you can
Sicilian: arcu (scn) m
Sikaiana: kavusu
Slovak: luk m
Slovene: lok (sl) m
Southern Altai: јаа (ǰaa)
Spanish: arco (es) m
Sumerian: 𒄑𒉼 (pana)
Sundanese: gondéwa, ᮌᮧᮔ᮪ᮓᮦᮝ (gondéwa)
Svan: ჴემა̈დ (qemäd)
Swahili: upinde (sw) class 11/10, uta (sw) class 11/10
Swedish: båge (sv) c, pilbåge (sv) c
Tagalog: busog (tl), pana (tl)
Tajik: камон (tg) (kamon)
Tamil: வில் (ta) (vil)
Taos: xwílena
Tauya: 'ipai aniyamo
Telugu: విల్లు (te) (villu), ధనుస్సు (te) (dhanussu)
Thai: ธนู (th) (tá-nuu)
Tibetan: གཞུ (gzhu)
Tumbuka: uta
Turkish: yay (tr)
Turkmen: ýaý
Tuvan: ча (ça)
Ugaritic: 𐎖𐎌𐎚 (qšt)
Ukrainian: лук (uk) m (luk)
Urdu: کَمان f (kamān), دَھنُش m (dhanuś)
Uyghur: يا (ya)
Uzbek: yoy (uz), kamon (uz)
Vietnamese: cung (vi) (弓)
Volapük: bob (vo)
Walloon: air (wa) m, årbalesse (wa) f
Welsh: bwa m, bwâu m pl
West Frisian: bûging c, bôge c
White Hmong: hneev nti
Yiddish: בויגן m (boygn)
Zhuang: gung :

#### Verb

bow (third-person singular simple present bows, present participle bowing, simple past and past participle bowed)
* To play music on (a stringed) instrument using a bow.
    The musician bowed his violin expertly.
* (intransitive) To become bent or curved.
    The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 62:3:How long wil ye imagine mischiefe against a man? ye shall be slaine all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
* (transitive) To make something bend or curve.
** 1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], chapter I, in The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC, page 32:[…] as when we bow things the contrary way, to make them come to their naturall ſtraitneſſe.
** 1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, […], →OCLC:The whole nation […] bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny.
* (transitive, figurative) To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.
** 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Atheism”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:Adversities do more bow men's minds to religion.
** 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):not to bow and bias their opinions
* (transitive, figurative) To humble or subdue, to make submit.
** 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:Know thou the secret of a spirit Bow’d from its wild pride into shame.

##### Derived terms

* bowable
* bower
* bow up
* diddley bower

##### Translations

Arabic: اِنْحَنَى (inḥanā)
Bulgarian: изви́вам се (izvívam se), изви́я се (izvíja se)
Catalan: corbar-se (ca), doblegar-se (ca), vinclar-se (ca), blincar-se (ca) (dialectal)
Cherokee: ᎠᏗᏍᏚᏍᎦ (adisdusga)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 彎曲 / 弯曲 (zh) (wānqū)
Crimean Tatar: qambıraymaq
Czech: ohnout se (cs) pf
Danish: bue
Dutch: buigen (nl)
Egyptian: (ksj)
Finnish: taipua (fi), kaartua (fi), vääntyä (fi)
French: fléchir (fr), courber (fr)
German: sich biegen (de), sich verbiegen (de)
Greek: κυρτώνω (el) (kyrtóno), λυγίζω (el) (lygízo)
Hebrew: התכופף (hitkoféf)
Hungarian: hajlik (hu), meghajlik (hu)
Icelandic: bogna, svigna, bugast
Italian: curvarsi (it), piegarsi (it), incurvarsi
Macedonian: се свиткува (se svitkuva)
Manx: croym
Persian: خمیدن (fa) (xamidan)
Polish: wygiąć się (pl) pf
Portuguese: curvar (pt), arquear (pt)
Quechua: k'umuy
Russian: гну́ться (ru) impf (gnútʹsja)
Scots: boo
Scottish Gaelic: crom, lùb
Slovak: ohnúť sa pf
Spanish: arquearse (es), curvar (es)
Swedish: böja (sv), kröka (sv), bågna (sv), böjas (sv), krokna (sv)
West Frisian: bûge, in bûging meitsjen :

### Etymology 2

From Middle English bowen, buwen, buȝen, from Old English būgan, from Proto-West Germanic *beugan, from Proto-Germanic *beuganą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to bend”). Cognate with West Frisian bûge (“to bow”), Dutch buigen (“to bow”), German biegen (“to bow”), Danish bue (“to curve, arch”).

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: bou, IPA: /baʊ/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aʊ
* Homophone: bough

#### Verb

bow (third-person singular simple present bows, present participle bowing, simple past and past participle bowed)
* (intransitive) To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.
** 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:The soldier now blew upon a green whistle, and at once a young girl, dressed in a pretty green silk gown, entered the room. She had lovely green hair and green eyes, and she bowed low before Dorothy as she said, "Follow me and I will show you your room."
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.
    That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.
* (transitive and intransitive) To debut.
** 1979, Bruce Cassiday, Dinah!: A Biography, page 115:The show bowed in the first week of December, 1951. Dinah was ready, and so were the technicians who put on her makeup […]
** 2010 (publication date), Kara Krekeler, "Rebuilding the opera house", West End Word, volume 39, number 26, December 22, 2010 – January 11, 2011, page 1:
    SCP recently announced that How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical will bow on the newly renovated stage next December.
* (intransitive) To defer (to something).
    I bow to your better judgement in the matter.
* (transitive) To give a direction, indication, or command to by bowing.
** 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 7, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 124:Poirot rose gallantly, bowed her into the seat opposite him.
** 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 302:He saw himself, in a smart suit and a songkok, bowed into the opulent suites of Ritzes and Waldorfs and baring, under dark glasses, a hairy chest to a milder sun by a snakeless sea.

##### Hypernyms

* (gesture): gesture; congee, congé, conge

##### Derived terms

* bow and scrape
* bow down
* bow down before the porcelain god
* bow in
* bowing stone
* bow out
* bow to
* embow
* imbow
* make one's bow
* outbow
* overbow
* scrape and bow
* take a bow
* unbow
* upbow

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Noun

bow (plural bows)
* A gesture, usually showing respect, made by inclining the head or bending forward at the waist; a reverence
    He made a polite bow as he entered the room.

##### Hypernyms

* (gesture): gesture; congee, congé, conge

##### Translations
### Etymology 3

* PIE word
* *bʰeh₂ǵʰús
From Middle English bowe, bowgh, a borrowing from Middle Low German bôch and/or Middle Dutch boech, from Proto-Germanic *bōguz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰus (“arm”). Cognate with Dutch boeg (“bow”), Danish bov (“bow”), Swedish bog (“bow”). Doublet of bough.

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: bou, IPA: /baʊ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aʊ
* Homophone: bough

#### Noun

bow (plural bows)
* (nautical) The front of a boat or ship.
** 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 6, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity.
* (rowing) The rower that sits in the seat closest to the bow of the boat.

##### Usage notes

* Often used in the plural, the ship being considered to have starboard and port bows, meeting at the stem.

##### Synonyms

* (of a ship): prow

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “of a ship”): poop, stern

##### Derived terms

* bluff-bowed
* bow ball
* bow cap
* bow chaser
* bow foil
* bowgrace
* bowman
* bowpicker
* bow plane
* bow rail
* bowrider
* bow riding
* bow rudder
* bow shock
* bowsman
* bowswoman
* bow thruster
* bow wave
* hurricane bow
* midbow
* on the bow
* overbow
* ram bow
* shot across the bow(s)
* weather bow

##### Translations
### Etymology 4

See bough.

#### Noun

bow (plural bows)
* Obsolete spelling of bough.
** 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 17, column 1:Where the Bee ſucks, there ſuck I, / In a Cowſlips bell, I lie, / There I cowch when Owles doe crie, / On the Batts backe I doe flie / after Sommer merrily. / Merrily, merrily, ſhall I liue now / Vnder the bloſſom that hangs on the Bow.
** 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter VII, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN, page 154:[Y]ou are to faſten that line to any bow neer to a hole where a Pike is, or is likely to lye, or to have a haunt, […]

### Etymology 5

Borrowed from Mandarin 包 (bāo) or Cantonese 包 (baau1).

#### Alternative forms

* bao, bau

#### Noun

bow (plural bows)
* Alternative form of bao; any of several Chinese buns and breads

##### Derived terms

See bao

##### Translations
### Etymology 6

Clipping of boutta, itself a contraction of about to.

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: bou, IPA: /baʊ/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aʊ
* Homophone: bough

### Verb

bow (auxiliary)
* about to

### See also

* bow-wow, bow chicka wow wow (different etymology)
* bow diddley, diddley bow (different etymology)
* coll'arco
* curtsey
* kowtow
* throw them bows

### Further reading

* Bow (weapon) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (Wikipedia article on bows (weapons))
* Bow (knot) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (Wikipedia article on bows (the knots))
* Bowing (social) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (Wikipedia article on bows, the gestures of respect)
* Bow (ship) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (Wikipedia article on the bows of ships)
* Bow (music) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (Wikipedia article on bows used to play string instruments)
* Musical bow on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (Wikipedia article on musical bows)

### References

* Bow in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

### Anagrams

* wbo, Wob, BwO, WBO