Arrows

How to spell arrows

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce arrows

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does arrows mean?

1. nounSlender pointed shafts shot from a bow.
2. nounPrinted or drawn signs shaped like a pointer, used to indicate direction.

Arrows in a sentence

• The archer drew three arrows from her quiver before the match.

• Red arrows on the floor guided visitors toward the exit.

• Medieval soldiers stockpiled thousands of arrows for the long siege.

• The diagram used bold arrows to show how the data flowed between systems.

Where does arrows come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the plural of arrow, which descends from the Old English arwe, also spelled earh, the name for the slender shaft shot from a bow. The word goes back to Proto-Germanic roots and is generally linked to the same ancient family that gave Latin arcus, meaning 'bow', the very thing that launches an arrow. The single early form gradually settled into the modern spelling with a doubled r and the -ow ending that English uses in words like sparrow and marrow. Over time the meaning widened beyond weaponry: by the printing age an arrow had become a printed sign pointing in a direction, and today it most often names the little symbols on signs, maps, and keyboards. The plural simply adds -s, so the only real spelling trap is remembering the doubled r and the silent-feeling -ow that sounds nothing like its letters.

How the word is built

• arrow (from Old English arwe: a shaft shot from a bow)
• -s (plural suffix)