arrow
/ˈæɹəʉ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.13 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A projectile consisting of a shaft, a point and a tail with stabilizing fins that is shot from a bow.
noun
noun
A morphism.
noun
The -> symbol, which has specific meanings in various programming languages.
noun
The inflorescence or tassel of a mature sugar cane plant.
Example Sentences
- "The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt in the Churche had bin one of yᵉ Souldyers, ſhot habbe or nabbe at randon^([sic – meaning random]) uppe to the Roode lofte, and to the Chancell, leauing ſome of theyr arrowes ſticking in the Images."
- "Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill."
- "Consider now the arrow with initial point A and terminal point B; this arrow we shall designate by #92;overrightarrow#123;AB#125;. If a#95;1,a#95;2,a#95;3, and b#95;1,b#95;2,b#95;3 are the coordinates of A and B, respectively, then #92;overrightarrow#123;AB#125; is equal to the arrow #92;overrightarrow#123;OP#125;, where O is the origin of the coordinate system and P has coordinates b#95;1-a#95;1,b#95;2-a#95;2,b#95;3-a#95;3. Thus each arrow is equal to one having the origin as its initial point."
- "The second arrow flew through the air in a drunken parabolic curve and nestled just below the previous dart. Twenty! “Good arrows!” came from all around the room. Total silence came from the opposition corner."
- "When the bulb of the “blowing ball” is operated, a gentle spray, much like what happens in Nature when a sugar cane arrow is shaken by the wind or gently tapped, is given out at the free end of the capsule and can be directed to any portion of the arrow as desired."
- "Above his head, a startled bird arrows up, into the sun."
Etymology
From Middle English arwe, from Old English earh (“arrow”) (oblique form ēarw-), from Proto-West Germanic *arhu (“arrow”), from Proto-Germanic *arhwō (“arrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂érkʷo- (“bow, arrow”). Cognate with Faroese ørv, ørvur (“arrow”), Icelandic ör (“arrow”), örvar (“arrows”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌽𐌰 (arƕazna, “dart”), Asturian and Leonese arcu (“bow”), Aragonese, Galician, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish arco (“bow”), Catalan, French, and Romanian arc (“bow”), Latin arcus (“bow”). Doublet of arch, arc, arco, and arcus.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: arwe, earh, *arhu, *arhwō, *h₂érkʷo-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈæɹəʉ/
- British English: /ˈæ.ɹəʊ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
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