Etymograph

English

bow

Bow comes from Old English boga ‘bow (weapon)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- ‘to bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewgʰ-1‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰugʰ-1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bugô2‘bow (weapon)’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150boga2‘bow (weapon)’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bowe2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611bow2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bugô
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English bow
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “I do set my bow in the cloud.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewgʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bugô‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰugʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bugôreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bugôWiktionary, English bow‘bow (weapon)’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bogaWiktionary, English bow‘bow (weapon)’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500boweWiktionary, English bow
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611bowWiktionary, English bow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “I do set my bow in the cloud.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- ‘to bend’

buy, bought, bee, badge, bail, bout, bagel, bight, 3 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰugʰ-

buck

through Proto-Germanic *bugô ‘bow (weapon)’

rainbow

Another origin of bow

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewgʰ-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*beuganą‘to bend, bow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*beugan‘to bend, become bent’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150būgan‘to bend’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bowen‘to bow or kneel’
  6. Englishtodaybow

Another origin of bow

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂ǵʰus‘arm’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bōguz‘upper arm’reconstructed
  3. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600bôchuncertain
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bowe
  5. Englishtodaybow

Today it means

noun A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bow”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *bugô. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- / bow

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