The analysis of the semantic field of the word bow

The analysis of the semantic field of the word bow indicates that its first meaning appears in 1000 in OE form boᵹa. In the OE period two meanings of the word bow can be distinguished. The first refers to ‘a weapon for shooting arrows’, which is still used e.g.

a) a 1000 Gnomic Vers. 154 (Gr.) Boᵹa sceal stræle. b) 1877 Bryant Among Trees 96 While yet the Indian hunter drew the bow.
The second meaning of bow ‘an arch (of masonry), as in gateway, or bridge’ also started to operate in 1000 in the same OE form and lasted over 800 years until 1862 e.g.

a) a1000 Beowulf (Z.) 2719 Ða stan boᵹan stapulum fæste. b) 1483 Cath. Angl. 31/1 A Bowe of a bryge.

These two items could be metaphorically connected because of their shape. Moving forward, we will see that most of the meanings of the word bow are based on resemblance in appearance due to the curved shape of items.

As reported by the OED in the ME period in 1387 the word bow started to mean ‘a thing bent or fashioned so as to form a part of the circumference of a circle or other curve, a bent line.’ Because of similarities in shape to the bow it can be deduced that this is a metaphorical meaning. The last example of this definition which can be found in the OED appears in 1846 e.g.

1846 Ellis Elgin Marb. II. 13 The floating drapery describes a bow above her head.
Furthermore, from 1594 to 1674 in the MnE period the word indicated ‘an arc of a circle’ as in the example below:
1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 68 The motion would be..a bow or arch of a circle.
However, according to the OED in 1914 the word bow acquired a new narrowed meaning which is still used in calligraphy and denotes ‘a curved stroke forming a part of a letter’ e.g.
1957 N. R. Ker Catal. MSS. Anglo-Saxon p. xxx, The bow of p is regularly open in the early manuscripts.

Another meaning of the word bow refers to ‘An ornamental knot into which ribbons are tied’ which first appeared in 1547 and it is also used nowadays e.g.

a) 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Kwlwm dalen, a bowe knot. b) 1896 Godey's Mag. Apr. 446/2 A woman with her back doubled into a bow-knot.

Basically, it seems to be quite possible to notice a similarity between bow as a weapon and a knot, since a looped knot may resemble a curved shape of a weapon therefore this meaning can have a metaphorical sense.
In 1580 bow started to operate as ‘the appliance with which instruments of the violin class are played’. In this case the resemblance to weapon is obvious since both tools consist of piece of wood with a string extending from one end to the other. The OED provides us with many examples, one of them is from 1880 e.g.

1880 Grove Dict. Mus. II. 632 [Paganini] made his staccato by throwing the bow violently on the string.
Moreover, it is highly probable that in 1836 the word underwent a process of metaphorical narrowing and gained a new definition as ‘part of an insects wing resembling a violin bow in function’ e.g.

1836–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. II. 928/2 When the wings are rubbed briskly together these rasps or bows produce a loud grating against some projecting nervures.
The OED provides no information if this meaning is still present, yet it may appear in specialized language.
When it comes to similarities in appearance in 1611 emerges another metaphorical meaning of bow defined as ‘parts of the body resembling a bow’. Probably it was not a popular meaning since the last reference to bow as a part of the body occurs in 1729.
1729 T. Cooke Tales 64 The Bows her Eyes above.

As the OED reports in 1696 the word bow acquires a new specialized meaning which can be a metonymy since it is difficult to establish metaphorical relation between a weapon and ’an astronomical instrument formerly used at sea, consisting of only one arc of
90º’ which is illustrated in the example below. Nonetheless, such an instrument is no longer used, therefore this meaning became obsolete in 1706.
(13) 1696 Phillips, Bow, a Mathematical Instrument to take heights.

In 1706 a new meaning appears which may have something in common with the previous one. Bow denoted ‘an instrument for drawing curves’. This meaning can be a metonymy because the prime function of such an instrument was to draw curves that somehow may resemble a weapon. The OED mentions only one description of this item e.g.
1706 Phillips, Bow, a Beam of Wood or Brass, with three long Screws that direct a Lath of Wood or Steel to any Arch; being commonly used to make Draughts of Ships, Projections of the Sphere, etc

The last meaning that the word bow acquired can be specialization or metaphor and refers to ‘a curved piece of metal used to make contact with overhead wire in electric traction’. This definition first appeared in 1909, perhaps together with the development of the railway tracks. As this particular piece of metal is curved, it may be associated with the shape of the bow, a weapon. The following example presents this meaning:
(15) 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Bow-spring, in electr. traction, the spring which keeps the bow spread out, when a bow is used to take current from a trolley-wire.

Finally, apart from the meanings of the word bow, it survived in a variety of special combinations. For instance bow-beaked ‘having a curved beak’, bow-arm ‘the arm that holds the bow (in archery or in violin-playing)’, bow-fin ‘a kind of fish’, bow-instrument ‘an instrument played with a bow, as a violin’, bow-pencil ‘a bow-compass with a pen or pencil’, bow-saw ‘a saw with a narrow blade stretched in a strong frame as the bowstring in the bow’, bow-brace ‘a guard to protect the left arm from the friction of the bowstring’, bow-wood ‘the wood of the Osage Orange (Maclura aurantiaca).’