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bower

 [bou-er]   Origin

bow·er

1   [bou-er]
noun
1.
a leafy shelter or recess; arbor.
2.
a rustic dwelling; cottage.
3.
a lady's boudoir in a medieval castle.
verb (used with object)
4.
to enclose in or as in a bower; embower.

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Origin:
before 900; Middle English bour, Old English būr chamber; cognate with Old Norse būr pantry, German Bauer birdcage; akin to neighbor

Related forms
bow·er·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged

bow·er

2   [bou-er]
noun Nautical.
an anchor carried at a ship's bow.
Also called bower anchor.

Origin:
1645–55; bow3 + -er1

bow·er

3   [bou-er]
noun
a person or thing that bows or bends.
Origin:
1590–1600; bow1 + -er1

bow·er

4   [boh-er]
noun Music.
a musician, as a violinist, who performs with a bow on a stringed instrument.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English; see bow2, -er1

bow

2   [boh]
noun
1.
a flexible strip of wood or other material, bent by a string stretched between its ends, for shooting arrows: He drew the bow and sent the arrow to its target.
2.
an instrument resembling this, used for various purposes, as rotating a drill or spindle, or loosening entangled or matted fibers.
3.
a bend or curve.
4.
Also called bowknot. a looped knot composed of two or more loops and two ends, as for tying together the ends of a ribbon or string.
5.
any separate piece of looped, knotted, or shaped gathering of ribbon, cloth, paper, etc., used as a decoration, as on a package, dress, or the like.
EXPAND
6.
a long rod, originally curved but now nearly straight, with horsehairs stretched from one end to the other, used for playing on a musical instrument of the violin and viol families.
7.
a single movement of such a device over the strings of a violin, viol, or the like.
8.
bow tie.
9.
something curved or arc-shaped.
10.
a saddlebow.
11.
an archer; bowman: He is the best bow in the county.
12.
temple2 (def. 3).
13.
a U-shaped piece for placing under an animal's neck to hold a yoke.
14.
Building Trades. a flexible rod used for laying out large curves.
15.
the part of a key grasped by the fingers.
16.
the loop on the stem of a watch by which the watch is attached to a chain or the like.
17.
a rainbow.
COLLAPSE
adjective
18.
curved outward at the center; bent: bow legs.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
19.
to bend into the form of a bow; curve.
20.
Music. to perform by means of a bow upon a stringed instrument.
21.
Textiles Obsolete. to loosen by passing a vibrating bow among entangled fibers.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English bowe (noun), Old English boga; cognate with Dutch boog, German Bogen, Old Norse bogi; akin to bow1

Related forms
bowed·ness, noun
bow·less, adjective
bow·like, adjective

bow

3   [bou]
noun
1.
Nautical, Aeronautics.
a.
the forward end of a vessel or airship.
b.
either side of this forward end, especially with reference to the direction of a distant object: a mooring two points off the port bow.
2.
bows, Nautical. the exterior of the forward end of a vessel, especially one in which the hull slopes back on both sides of the stem.
3.
the foremost oar in rowing a boat.
4.
Also called bowman, bow oar. the person who pulls that oar.
adjective
5.
of or pertaining to the bow of a ship.
Idioms
6.
bows on, (of a ship) with the bow foremost: The vessel approached us bows on.
7.
bows under, (of a ship) shipping water at the bow: The ship was bows under during most of the storm.
8.
on the bow, Nautical. within 45° to the heading of the vessel.
Origin:
1620–30; < Low German boog (noun) or Dutch boeg or Danish bov; see bough
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To bower
Collins
World English Dictionary
bower1 (ˈbaʊə)
 
—n
1.  a shady leafy shelter or recess, as in a wood or garden; arbour
2.  literary a lady's bedroom or apartments, esp in a medieval castle; boudoir
3.  literary a country cottage, esp one regarded as charming or picturesque
 
[Old English būr dwelling; related to Old Norse būr pantry, Old High German būr dwelling]
 
'bowery1
 
—adj

bower2 (ˈbaʊə)
 
—n
nautical a vessel's bow anchor
 
[C18: from bow³ + -er1]

bower3 (ˈbaʊə)
 
—n
a jack in euchre and similar card games
 
[C19: from German Bauer peasant, jack (in cards)]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

bow
"front of a ship," mid-14c., from O.N. bogr or M.Du. boech "bow of a ship," lit. "shoulder (of an animal)," the connecting notion being "the shoulders of the ship." See bough.
EXPAND

bower
O.E. bur "room, hut, dwelling, chamber," from P.Gmc. *buraz (cf. O.N. bur "chamber," Swed. bur "cage," O.H.G. bur "dwelling, chamber," Ger. Bauer "birdcage"), from base *bu- "to dwell," from PIE base *bheue- "to be, exist, dwell" (see be). Modern spelling developed after mid-14c.
Sense of "leafy arbor" (place closed in by trees) is first attested 1520s. Hence, too, Australia's bower-bird (1847).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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