An archaic or variant spelling of 'boatswain': the officer in charge of a ship's deck crew and maintenance.
A historical variant of 'bo'sun' or 'boatswain', with different regional and period spellings. The '-sen' ending reflects older Germanic influences in English nautical terminology.
Old ships had about seventeen different ways to spell the boatswain's title, and 'bowssen' is one of the most delightfully weird ones. It shows how maritime communities developed their own spelling before standardization existed.
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