bough

Meaning

1. A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.
2. (obsolete) A gallows.

Synonyms

branch

limb

twig

section

chapter

offshoot

sprig

shoot

leg

🦵

limbs

lop

ramus

stalk

stick

branchlet

small branch

banyan

treelimb

boughs

bow

🙇

championship

department

frond

knag

knot

🪢

Pronounced as (IPA)

/baʊ/

Etymology

PIE word
*bʰeh₂ǵʰús
From Middle English bough (“branch of a bush or tree, especially a main branch; limb of an animal or person; something resembling a branch (such as a plant root or branch of a nerve); (figuratively) Christian cross; descendant, offspring”) [and other forms], from Old English bōg, bōh (“tree bough or branch; arm; shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōgu, from Proto-Germanic *bōguz (“shoulder; upper arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰús (“arm”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bouch, West Frisian boech, Dutch boeg, German Low German Boog, German Bug, Danish bov, Icelandic bógur, and distantly with Ancient Greek πῆχυς (pêkhus, “forearm, cubit, etc.”). Doublet of bow ("front of a ship, prow").