▪ I. bowman1
(ˈbəʊmən)
Also 4–5 boumon.
[f. bow n.1 + man.]
1. A man who shoots with a bow; esp. a fighting man armed with a bow.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 378 Spermen auote & bowmen, & al so arblastes. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5536 He was boumon of the best. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 492 You are a prety bow man but your luck is very ill. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres i. i. 3 Were there such bowmen as were in the old time. 1611 W. Barksted Hiren (1876) 105 Saturn wounded by loues little bowman. 1839 Thirlwall Greece III. 375 Heavy infantry, with bowmen and slingers. |
† 2. Some kind of fish. Obs.
| 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey iv. iii. 63 Conger, Lampson, Bowman, Soles. |
3. bowman's root: a name given to certain plants: Gillenia trifoliata, Euphorbia corollata, and Isnardia alternifolia.
▪ II. bowman2 Naut.
(ˈbaʊmən)
[f. bow n.2 + man.]
The oarsman who sits nearest to the bow of a boat.
| 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xix, The bowman holding on with the boat-hook. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xxiii. 71 The bow-man had charge of the boat-hook and painter. |