bowen

See also: Bowen, bōwén, and bówén

Middle English

Alternative forms

• bouwe, bouwen, bowe
• buȝen, buȝhenn, buhen, buwen (Early Middle English)
• bouȝe (Kent); boughe, bow, bowghe (Northern); bouwien (Southern)

Etymology

From Old English būgan, from Proto-West Germanic *beugan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbuːən/
• IPA^(key): /ˈbuːɣən/ (Early Middle English), /ˈbuːɣə/ (Kent)

Verb

bowen (third-person singular simple present boweth, present participle bowende, bowynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle bowed)

1. To bend, curve, or cause to bend:
   1. To bow or kneel; to bend reverently.
      • a. 1333, “Poem 15: Eterne rex altissime; Fol. 209v-210r”, in William Herebert, transl., Opera (British Library MS. Add. 46919)‎, Hereford; republished as The Works of William Herebert, OFM (Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse), [Ann Arbor]: University of Michigan, a. 2018:

        Vor hœ́uene and œ́rþe and helle, and al þat þrinne bœ́n, / To þé shullen bouwen hœm and bénden hœre knœ́n.

        Since heaven, earth, and hell, and everything that's in them, / shall bow before You and bend their knees.

   2. To turn; to move in response to.
   3. (figurative) To adjust in response to.
2. To fall, lower, or drop:
   1. (figurative) To end or cause to end.
3. To submit; to demonstrate obedience.
4. (poetic) To move or go.

Conjugation

Conjugation of bowen (strong class 2 or weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) bowen, bowe
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	bowe	beigh, bowed
2nd-person singular	bowest	bowe1, bowedest
3rd-person singular	boweth	beigh, bowed
subjunctive singular	bowe	bowe2, bowed2
imperative singular		—
plural3	bowen, bowe	bowen, bowe, boweden, bowede
imperative plural	boweth, bowe	—
participles	bowynge, bowende	bowen, bowe, bowed, ybowe

¹ Later replaced by the 1st-/3rd-person singular or beighest.
² Later replaced by the indicative.
³ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: bow
• Middle Scots: bow
  • Scots: bou, bow, boo

References

• “bǒuen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 March 2018.