entry
bow
/boʊ/Curved weapon, gesture, or bend
From Proto-Germanic bogō (a bow) + Proto-Germanic beuganą (to bend).
from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō
from Middle English bowe
from Middle English bowe
from Old English bugan "to bend, become bent, have or assume a curved direction; to bow down, bend the body in...
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English bowe
from Middle English bowe
Word Ancestry
from Old English boga, Proto-West Germanic *bogō
from Middle English bowe
from Middle English bowe
from Old English bugan "to bend, become bent, have or assume a curved direction; to bow down, bend the body in...
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English bowe
from Middle English bowe
English managed to keep two different old Germanic words looking identical on the page. One was the noun boga, the curved thing you shoot arrows from; the other was the verb būgan, meaning to bend or yield, the ancestor of today’s social gesture of lowering your body. Both ultimately point back to a bendy PIE root, *bheug-, so the language basically doubled down on the same visual idea: curve as object, curve as action. That’s why rainbow and bowsprit can live near bow, and why bend sits in the same old family portrait too. By 1917 you could even bow out of a situation—modern English turning an ancient physical motion into a graceful exit.
The Story
English managed to keep two different old Germanic words looking identical on the page. One was the noun boga, the curved thing you shoot arrows from; the other was the verb būgan, meaning to bend or yield, the ancestor of today’s social gesture of lowering your body. Both ultimately point back to a bendy PIE root, *bheug-, so the language basically doubled down on the same visual idea: curve as object, curve as action. That’s why rainbow and bowsprit can live near bow, and why bend sits in the same old family portrait too. By 1917 you could even bow out of a situation—modern English turning an ancient physical motion into a graceful exit.
Modern Usage
In some online slang, a crude term for vagina; also used in a greeting meme meaning a formal hello.
Popularized by: Urban Dictionary entries
Notable References
- Bow hello
- tying a bow
Kin & Kindred
From 'bogō'·a bow; curved shape
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'beuganą'·to bend, yield, curve
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary