Originally, a farm or plantation, especially in colonial New York; now primarily known as a district in lower Manhattan. Can also refer to a leafy, shaded place or arbor.
From Dutch 'bowerij' meaning 'farm', from 'bouwen' (to build, cultivate). Dutch colonists used this term for their farms outside New Amsterdam (now New York City). The Bowery street in Manhattan retains this name from when it led to Peter Stuyvesant's farm.
The famous Bowery in New York City was literally named after farms - it was the road that led to the Dutch colonial farms outside the city walls! This agricultural word transformed into one of America's most notorious urban districts, showing how dramatically neighborhoods can change over centuries.
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