[ExI] rain "bow" was RE: Brains grow and shrink like 'rainbows' as we age

[Dan]

On Tuesday, September 23, 2014 10:03 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
> That's exactly what they did! :)
>
> The word comes from from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô ("rainbow"),
> equivalent to rain + bow ("arch").
> 'bow' originally meant any curved shape. like an arch or early simple bows.

Oh, so the usage goes the other way: bows -- as in a bow to launch arrows -- is really a specialization of that more general word for a shape. Interesting.

 
Regards, 

Dan 
 My latest Kindle book, "Born With Teeth," is now available at: 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N72FBA2
 (Takes place in Seattle and is not science fictiony.)