Meanings
prow1
plural prows
- nauticalThe front part of a vessel.
The floating vessel swum / Uplifted, and secure with beaked prow / rode tilting o'er the waves.
1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost1 more example
We were already rather close in; but I ordered the U-33's prow turned inshore and we crept slowly along, constantly dipping up the water and tasting it to assure ourselves that we didn't get outside the fresh-water current.
1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLCSynonyms: bow, stem, fore, forestem, prore · Antonyms: stern, aft, poop
- A vessel.
prow2
prow3
Prow4
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
prow · noun
- Ancient Greekπρῷρα
- Latinprōra
- Ligurianprua
- Middle Frenchproue
- Englishprow
From Middle French proue, proe, from Ligurian prua, proa, from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).
More words from Middle French, Ligurian, Latin
Full word history & related roots →prow · adjective
- Late Latinprode
- Old Frenchprou
- Middle Englishprow
- Englishprow
From Middle English prow, from Old French prou, from Late Latin prode; more at proud.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πρῷρα
- πρῷρα (prōîra)fore part of a vessel; bow
Bulgarian нос
- нос (nos)fore part of a vessel; bow
Catalan proa
- proafore part of a vessel; bow
Czech příď
- příďfore part of a vessel; bow
Danish forstavn
- forstavnfore part of a vessel; bow
Dutch voorsteven, boeg
- voorstevenfore part of a vessel; bow
- boegfore part of a vessel; bow
- dapperbrave, valiant
- moedigbrave, valiant
Esperanto pruo
- pruofore part of a vessel; bow
Finnish keula
- keulafore part of a vessel; bow
French proue
- prouefore part of a vessel; bow
German Bug, Bugüberhang
- Bugfore part of a vessel; bow
- Bugüberhangfore part of a vessel; bow
Icelandic trjóna, skegg
- trjónafore part of a vessel; bow
- skeggfore part of a vessel; bow
Irish braine, gob
- brainefore part of a vessel; bow
- gobfore part of a vessel; bow
Italian prua, prora
- pruafore part of a vessel; bow
- prorafore part of a vessel; bow
Latin prora, rostrum
- prorafore part of a vessel; bow
- rostrumfore part of a vessel; bow
Māori ihuwaka
- ihuwakafore part of a vessel; bow
Polish dziób
- dzióbfore part of a vessel; bow
Portuguese proa
- proafore part of a vessel; bow
Romanian proră, provă
- prorăfore part of a vessel; bow
- provăfore part of a vessel; bow
Russian нос
- нос (nos)fore part of a vessel; bow
Scottish Gaelic toiseach
- toiseachfore part of a vessel; bow
Slovak prova
- provafore part of a vessel; bow
Spanish proa
- proafore part of a vessel; bow
Swahili gubeti
- gubetifore part of a vessel; bow
Tagalog duong, doong
- duongfore part of a vessel; bow
- doongfore part of a vessel; bow
Turkish pruva
- pruvafore part of a vessel; bow
Ukrainian ніс
- ніс (nis)fore part of a vessel; bow
Vietnamese mũi
- mũifore part of a vessel; bow
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prow
All rhymes →Cite this entry
prow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prow
“prow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prow. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prow,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prow.
Source: prow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.