Bowery
adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Structure with roof for shade but with no walls used for public gatherings. A pavilion.
"The group performed in the old bowery, an open-air building with a roof of branches laid over vertical poles, the forerunner of the first tabernacle."
- 2 In the early settlements of New York State, USA, a farm or estate. archaic
"His estate, or bowery, as it was called, has ever continued in the possession of his descendants."
- 1 Sheltered by trees; leafy; shady.
"Such a man had no chance whatever in this flowery and bowery little suburb."
- 1 like a bower; leafy and shady wordnet
- 1 A surname from Middle English.
- 2 A street and a district of New York City, whose residents were traditionally of a low socioeconomic class.
"We were seen quarrelling this afternoon in a saloon over on the Bowery."
Example
More examples"The group performed in the old bowery, an open-air building with a roof of branches laid over vertical poles, the forerunner of the first tabernacle."
Etymology
From bower + -y.
From bower + -y, calque of Dutch bouwerij.
Unexplained. Perhaps a topographic surname for someone who lived in a small cottage, from Middle English bour (“chamber, cottage”) or, alternatively, an occupational surname for someone who worked there.
From Dutch bouwerij (“farm”).
Related phrases
More for "bowery"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.