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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bough.

A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbaʊ̯/[ˈbaʊ̯]/ˈbæʊ̯/[ˈbæʊ̯]
  1. A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.

    When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. (Rock-a-bye Baby)
  2. A gallows.

    figuratively · obsolete · poetic
Where this word comes from

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").

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.