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bower

bo·wer

UK/ˈbəʊə(ɹ)/ US/ˈbaʊə(ɹ)/ uncommon literary obsolete
noun (1) verb (1)

noun

1.

a framework that supports climbing plants

  • “the arbor provided a shady resting place in the park”
Synonyms

verb

1.

enclose in a bower

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English boueer, from Old English būr, ġebūr (“freeholder of the lowest class, peasant, farmer”) and Middle Dutch bouwer (“farmer, builder, peasant”); both from Proto-West Germanic *būr, from Proto-Germanic *būraz (“dweller”), from or related to *būaną (“to dwell”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian Buur, böre, büür (“farmer”), Alemannic German pour, pur, Puur, pür (“farmer”), Dutch boer, bouwer (“farmer”), buur (“neighbour”), German and Luxembourgish Bauer (“farmer”), Low German Buer, Buur (“farmer”), Mòcheno pauer (“farmer”), Vilamovian pauer, pojer, poüer (“farmer”), Yiddish פּויער (poyer, “farmer”); also Albanian burr, burrë (“man; husband; brave male; lord”). Doublet of bauer, Boer, and boor. More at neighbour.

Phrases

  • best bower
  • Bower Ashton
  • bower vine
  • Bowers Gifford
  • bridal bower
  • lady's bower
  • virgin's bower

Related words

Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.