Etymograph

English

spray bow

From spray + bow, by analogy with rainbow.

A compound of spray + bow

Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- ‘to sow, scatter’

Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną ‘to spray, sprinkle’

Middle Dutch sprāien

English spray

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

Proto-Indo-European *bʰugʰ-

Proto-Germanic *bugô ‘bow (weapon)’

Old English boga ‘bow (weapon)’

Middle English bowe

English bow

Today it means

noun A rainbow formed from water spray, especially that which emanates from a waterfall.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spray bow”. 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 / spray bow

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