Etymology

embower

E1M3B3O1W4E1R1

Today it means: To enclose something or someone as if in a bower; shelter with foliage. Full definition →

Old English būr ← Proto-Germanic *būraz
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*būraz
  2. Old English · inherited frombūr
  3. English todayembower

Ultimately from Old English būr, from Proto-Germanic *būraz. Cognate with German Bauer (“birdcage”), Old Norse búr, (whence Danish bur, Swedish bur (“cage”)). Equivalent to en- + bower.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishbūr all →

bowerbirleyBowers Gifford

Proto-Germanic*būraz all →

bowerburon

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.