bow

The word “bow” means a weapon made from a curved piece of flexible material strung with a cord, used to shoot arrows. In plain terms, depending on context: a weapon for arrows, a musical rod, a decorative knot, the front of a ship, or the act of bending forward in respect.

“Bow” is pronounced BOH (/ˈboʊ̯/ in IPA).

Here is “bow” used in a sentence: “The archer drew back her bow and released the arrow.”

Depending on how it is used, “bow” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “bow” comes from Old English. From Old English boga, related to a Germanic root meaning "to bend" — the same root behind German Bogen.

“Bow” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Bow” has 6 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a weapon made from a curved piece of flexible material strung with a cord, used to shoot arrows.

A bow is the curved, strung weapon that launches the projectile, while the arrow is the pointed shaft that the bow shoots. You draw the bow to send the arrow flying, so they work together but are separate objects.

"Bow" meaning the archery weapon or the violin rod rhymes with "go," while "bow" meaning to bend forward from the waist rhymes with "cow." They are spelled the same but are different words, so context and pronunciation tell them apart.

A "bow" is the standard term for the rod strung with hair used to play a stringed instrument, while "fiddlestick" is an old, informal word for the same thing. Today "bow" is standard, and "fiddlestick" survives mainly in the exclamation "fiddlesticks."

Both are spelled "bow" and rhyme with "go," and the looped ribbon knot is named for its curved shape, similar to the curve of the archer's weapon. Even so, they refer to different things, so context shows whether you mean a weapon, a knot, or a violin bow.