Bough

Pronunciation

• IPA: /baÊŠ/
• Homophones: brow
• Rhymes: -aÊŠ

Origin

Middle English, from Old English bōg ("shoulder, bough"), from Proto-Germanic *bōguz ("upper arm, shoulder") (compare German Bug ("shoulder, hock, joint")), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāǵʰus ("forearm, elbow") (compare Ancient Greek πῆχυς (pēchys, "forearm"), Old Armenian բազուկ (bazuk, "arm, forearm, bough"), Persian بازو (bāzu, "upper arm"), Sanskrit बाहु (bahus, "arm")).

Full definition of bough

Noun

1. A firm branch of a tree.
   When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 8, Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: or anon we shot into a clearing, with a colored glimpse of the lake and its curving shore far below us.

Derived terms

• cut not the bough that you are standing upon