Bowways

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. A nautical term referring to the directions on either side and forward of a ship's bow ; also means the forward sections of a vessel on both the port and starboard sides ; can describe the area ahead and to the sides at the front of a boat or ship
2. Denoting the regions between the straight ahead and the sides at the front of a maritime vessel ; refers to both the left-front and right-front areas relative to a ship's bow ; describes portions of water lying diagonally ahead from a boat's prow
3. In seafaring, indicates the areas that are not directly ahead but are forward and off to the sides of a vessel ; encompasses the forward quarter sections flanking the prow ; means the part of the sea located forward of and obliquely to either side of a ship

Etymology: The word is built from "bow," the front end of a ship, and "-ways," a suffix meaning "in the direction of," as in "sideways" and "endways." Together they describe movement toward the bow, or ahead toward a ship's sides. The nautical "bow" appears in English from the late Middle Ages and was most likely borrowed from a Low German or Scandinavian seafaring word, a sign that English sailors took their vocabulary for the front of a hull from neighbouring coastal peoples. The suffix is the older, native element. "-ways" descends from Old English "weg," meaning "way" or "road," and it was once productive, so speakers could attach it to almost any noun to indicate direction. "Bowways" is one of many such formations, and its meaning follows directly from its parts.