saddle bow

noun

The front part of a saddle that is arched up like an archer's bow.

OriginMiddle English sadel-bowe ← Old English sadulboga →
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Meanings

nounsaddle bow (plural saddle bows)

plural saddle bows · alternative saddle-bow · alternative saddlebow

  1. The front part of a saddle that is arched up like an archer's bow.

    the Prince […] stroke the Pagan with his steely brand / So sore, that to his saddle-bow thereby / He bowed low, and so a while did lie […].

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
    1 more example

    The Government mobilized the full force of 18,000 mounted gendarmes and sent them picking their way over the sand about as heavily armored as any policeman could be: a long lance in one hand, a sabre at the saddle bow, a rifle across the back, a pistol on the hip.

    1931 October 12, “Sand in the Streets”, in Time

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
saddle tree

Origin

  1. Old Englishsadulboga
  2. Middle Englishsadel-bowe
  3. Englishsaddle bow

From Middle English sadel-bowe, sadel-boȝe, from Old English sadulboga, sadolboga, equivalent to saddle + bow. Displaced non-native arson (“saddle bow”), from Middle English arsoun.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan arçó
  • arçófront part of saddle
Dutch zadelboog
  • zadelboogfront part of saddle
Finnish etukaari, nuppi
  • etukaarifront part of saddle
  • nuppifront part of saddle
French arçon
  • arçonfront part of saddle
German Sattelbogen
  • Sattelbogenfront part of saddle
Italian arcione
  • arcionefront part of saddle
Polish łęk
  • łękfront part of saddle
Romanian oblânc
  • oblâncfront part of saddle
Russian лука́
  • лука́ (luká)front part of saddle
Swedish framvalv, sadelbåge
  • framvalvfront part of saddle
  • sadelbågefront part of saddle
Cite this entry
APA

saddle bow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saddle%20bow

MLA

“saddle bow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saddle%20bow. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “saddle bow,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saddle%20bow.

Source: saddle bow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.