As a noun, it can mean a weapon for shooting arrows or a curved piece of material tied with loops. As a verb, it means to bend your body forward to show respect or thanks.
The weapon and bending senses come from Old English “boga,” meaning “arch, bend,” related to “bow” as in curve. The ribbon “bow” grew from the idea of something bent into loops.
English hides two different words under the spellings “bow” and “bow,” and only pronunciation tells you which is which. They’re all about curves: your body curves, the wood curves, and even the ribbon curves into a neat shape.
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