prow
1[prou]
- the forepart of a ship or boat; bow.
- the front end of an airship.
- Literary. a ship.
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Origin of prow
11545–55; < Middle French proue < Upper Italian (Genoese) prua < Latin prōra < Greek prôira
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
prow
- the bow of a vessel
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Word Origin for prow
C16: from Old French proue, from Latin prora, from Greek prōra; related to Latin pro in front
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Word Origin and History for prowed
prow
"forepart of a ship," 1550s, from Middle French proue, from Italian (Genoese) prua, from Vulgar Latin *proda, by dissimilation from Latin prora "prow," from Greek proira, related to pro "before, forward," proi "early in the morning," from PIE *pre-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).
Middle English and early Modern English (and Scott) had prore in same sense, from Latin. Modern Italian has proda only in sense "shore, bank." Prow and poop meant "the whole ship," hence 16c.-17c. figurative use of the expression for "the whole" (of anything).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper