bow

Etymology 1

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

noun

1. A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
2. A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow).
3. A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.
4. A stringed instrument (chordophone), consisting of a stick with a single taut cord stretched between the ends, most often played by plucking.
5. 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.
6. Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.
7. The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.
8. Either of the arms of a pair of spectacles, running from the side of the lens to behind the wearer's ear.
   […] 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. 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things
9. 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.
10. (nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
11. (saddlery) Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree.
12. The part of a key that is not inserted into the lock and that is used to turn the key.
    Coordinate term: blade

verb

1. To play music on (a stringed) instrument using a bow.
   The musician bowed his violin expertly.
2. (intransitive) To become bent or curved.
   The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.
3. (transitive) To make something bend or curve.
4. (transitive, figurative) To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.

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 *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”). Cognate with Dutch buigen, German biegen, Danish bue.

verb

1. (intransitive) To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.
   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. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
   That singer always bows towards her audience for some reason.
2. (transitive and intransitive) To debut.
   The show bowed in the first week of December, 1951. Dinah was ready, and so were the technicians who put on her makeup […] 1979, Bruce Cassiday, Dinah!: A Biography, page 115
   SCP recently announced that How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical will bow on the newly renovated stage next December. 2010 (publication date), Kara Krekeler, "Rebuilding the opera house", West End Word, volume 39, number 26, December 22, 2010 – January 11, 2011, page 1
3. (intransitive) To defer (to something).
   I bow to your better judgement in the matter.
4. (transitive) To give a direction, indication, or command to by bowing.
   Poirot rose gallantly, bowed her into the seat opposite him. 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 7, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 124
   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. 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 302

noun

1. 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.

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.

noun

1. (nautical) The front of a boat or ship.
   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. 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 6, in The Dust of Conflict
2. (rowing) The rower that sits in the seat closest to the bow of the boat.

Etymology 4

See bough.

noun

1. Obsolete spelling of bough

Etymology 5

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

noun

1. Alternative form of bao; any of several Chinese buns and breads