English
embower
Embower comes from Old English būr ‘private chamber, room’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *būraz ‘dweller, inhabitant’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*būraz1‘dweller, inhabitant’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150būr1‘private chamber, room’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667embower1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English embower
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book IX: “Her hand he seis’d, and to a shadie bank,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*būrazWiktionary, English embower‘dweller, inhabitant’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150būrWiktionary, English embower‘private chamber, room’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667embowerWiktionary, English embower. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book IX: “Her hand he seis’d, and to a shadie bank,…”
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to grow, be’
…
Proto-Germanic *būrą ‘room, abode’
Proto-West Germanic *būr
Old English būr ‘private chamber, room’
Middle English bour ‘a bedroom or chamber’
English bower
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *būraz ‘dweller, inhabitant’
Today it means
verb To enclose something or someone as if in a bower; shelter with foliage.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “embower”. 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-Germanic *būraz / embower