Etymology

bowsprit

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Today it means: A spar projecting over the prow of a sailing vessel to provide the means of adding sail surface. Full definition →

Middle Low German bochspret
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The story

  1. Middle Low German · borrowed frombochspret
  2. English todaybowsprit

First attested in late 13th century. Probably borrowed from Middle Low German bochspret, from boch (“bow of a ship”) + spret (“pole”) (related to Old English spreot and English sprout).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.