Arrow

How to spell arrow

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce arrow

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does arrow mean?

1. nounA thin straight shaft with a sharp point at one end and flights at the other, shot from a bow.
2. nounA printed or drawn mark shaped like a pointed shaft, used to indicate direction.

Arrow in a sentence

• The hunter drew back the bowstring and released the arrow.

• A green arrow on the sign pointed toward the exit.

• Each arrow landed within the centre ring of the target.

• Click the arrow to expand the hidden menu.

Where does arrow come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Arrow comes from the Old English word arwe, also recorded as earh, meaning a thin shaft shot from a bow. It traces back to the Proto-Germanic root arhwo, which scholars connect to the same ancient family that produced the Latin arcus, meaning 'bow', so the names of the bow and its missile may share a single distant source. For centuries the word named only the pointed wooden shaft used in hunting and warfare. Much later, once printing and signage became common, the same word was reused for the simple pointed symbol that shows direction, since that mark resembles the head and shaft of a real arrow. The doubled r and the silent feel of the -ow ending are the only mild traps, and the word has stayed remarkably stable in form since Anglo-Saxon times.

How the word is built

• arrow (single root from Old English arwe/earh: a shaft shot from a bow); no prefix or suffix