bow 词源(Etymology) - 趣词词源[英文版]

bow [bow 词源字典]: bow: There are three distinct words bow in English, although two of them, ‘arrow-shooter’ [OE] and ‘bend the body’ [OE], are ultimately related. Bow for arrows comes from Old English boga, which also meant more generally ‘arch’; its source was Germanic *bugon, a derivative of *bug-, the short stem of *beugan. This *beugan was also the source of Old English bōgan, antecedent of modern English bow ‘bend the body’, while the short stem lies additionally behind bright [OE] and bout [16]. Buxom, which originally meant ‘flexible’ and ‘obedient’, derived from bow ‘bend the body’.

The other bow ‘front of a boat’ [15] was probably borrowed from Dutch boeg, a word related to English bough.
=> bight, bout, buxom; bough[bow etymology, bow origin, 英语词源]
bow (v.): Old English bugan "to bend, to bow down, to bend the body in condescension," also "to turn back" (class II strong verb; past tense beag, past participle bogen), from Proto-Germanic *bugon (cognates: Dutch buigen, Middle Low German bugen, Old High German biogan, German biegen, Gothic biugan "to bend," Old Norse boginn "bent"), from *beugen, from PIE root *bheug- (3) "to bend," with derivatives referring to bent, pliable, or curved objects (cognates: Sanskrit bhujati "bends, thrusts aside;" Old High German boug, Old English beag "a ring"). The noun in this sense is first recorded 1650s. Related: Bowed; bowing. Bow out "withdraw" is from 1942.
bow (n.1): weapon for shooting arrows, Old English boga "archery bow, arch, rainbow," from Proto-Germanic *bugon (cognates: Old Norse bogi, Old Frisian boga, Dutch boog, German Bogen "bow;" see bow (v.)). The sense of "a looped knot" is from 1540s. The musician's bow (1570s) formerly was curved like the archer's. Bowlegged is attested from 1550s.
bow (n.2): "front of a ship," mid-14c., from Old Norse bogr or Middle Dutch boech "bow of a ship," literally "shoulder (of an animal)," the connecting notion being "the shoulders of the ship." See bough.