bower

¹ American  

[bou-er] / ˈbaʊ ər /

noun

1. a leafy shelter or recess; arbor.

2. a rustic dwelling; cottage.

3. a lady's boudoir in a medieval castle.

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verb (used with object)

1. to enclose in or as in a bower; embower.

bower ² American  

[bou-er] / ˈbaʊ ər /

noun

Nautical.

1. an anchor carried at a ship's bow.

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bower ³ American  

[bou-er] / ˈbaʊ ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that bows or bends.

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bower ⁴ American  

[boh-er] / ˈboʊ ər /

noun

Music.

1. a musician, as a violinist, who performs with a bow on a stringed instrument.

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bower ¹ British  

/ ˈbaʊə /

noun

1. a shady leafy shelter or recess, as in a wood or garden; arbour

2. literary a lady's bedroom or apartments, esp in a medieval castle; boudoir

3. literary a country cottage, esp one regarded as charming or picturesque

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bower ² British  

/ ˈbaʊə /

noun

1. nautical a vessel's bow anchor

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bower ³ British  

/ ˈbaʊə /

noun

1. a jack in euchre and similar card games

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Other Word Forms

• bowerlike
  adjective
• bowery
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of bower¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English bour, bur, bure “dwelling, shelter, bower,” Old English būr “dwelling, shelter, chamber”; cognate with Old Norse būr “pantry, storehouse,” German Bauer “cage, birdcage”; akin to neighbor

Origin of bower²

First recorded in 1645–55; bow ³ + -er ¹

Origin of bower³

First recorded in 1590–1600; bow ¹ + -er ¹

Origin of bower⁴

First recorded in 1650–70; see origin at bow ², -er ¹

Explanation

A natural or human-made arch that supports climbing plants is a bower. For next year's holiday card, you should use that photo of your dog sitting under the bower of flowering roses. Some bowers are deliberately constructed to give vines and other climbing greenery a place to grow, often framing a garden entryway. You can also use this word for a shady spot under a curve of trees: "We always stop for a picnic at the bower of dogwood trees beside the lake." The Old English source is bur, "room or dwelling." Bower is less commonly used as a verb: "I love the way those trellises bower your patio."

Example Sentences

The Calligraphy is a bower of abundance, where visitors can recline in plushly padded, heated and ventilated captain’s chairs, dressed in high-grade Nappa leather: the Relaxation Mode seating package.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

Years later, a fig tree from that bower flourishes in London, where a woman named Ada attempts to reconstruct her family’s difficult history before it’s too late.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2021

Visiting Barbara Kingsolver on her farm in Appalachia feels like entering some form of enchanted bower.

From The Guardian • Oct. 8, 2018

Bethany: I was saving us seats in the weird bower of fake plants behind Avo-poké.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2018

Yossarian and Milo were covered in their bower by tissue-thin tiers of sloping green and largely surrounded by other gray chestnut trees and a silver spruce.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller