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bower - What does it mean?

Definition of 'bower'

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) ).

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A bedroom or private apartments, especially for a woman in a medieval castle.
  • * Gascoigne
  • Give me my lute in bed now as I lie, / And lock the doors of mine unlucky bower .
  • (literary) A dwelling; a picturesque country cottage, especially one that is used as a retreat.
  • (Shenstone)
  • A shady, leafy shelter or recess in a garden or woods.
  • * 1599 ,
  • say that thou overheard'st us,
    And bid her steal into the pleached bower ,
    Where honey-suckles, ripen'd by the sun,
    Forbid the sun to enter;
  • * {{quote-book|year=1907|author=
  • |title=The Dust of Conflict |chapter=1 citation |passage=
  • (ornithology) A large structure made of grass and bright objects, used by the bower bird during courtship displays.
  • Synonyms
    *

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To embower; to enclose.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • (obsolete) To lodge.
  • (Spenser)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) boueer, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A peasant; a farmer.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) Bauer.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • Either of the two highest trumps in euchre.
  • Derived terms
    * best bower * left bower * right bower

    Etymology 4

    From the bow of a ship

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (nautical) A type of ship's anchor, carried at the bow.
  • One who bows or bends.
  • A muscle that bends a limb, especially the arm.
  • * Spenser
  • His rawbone arms, whose mighty brawned bowers / Were wont to rive steel plates and helmets hew.

    Etymology 5

    From bough, compare brancher.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (obsolete|falconry) A young hawk, when it begins to leave the nest.
  • (Webster 1913)