Bow tie or bowtie?
bow tie is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of bowtie”; bowtie is a noun meaning “A man's necktie tied in a bow around the throat”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. bow tie is written as two words and bowtie as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between bow tie and bowtie?
| bow tie | bowtie | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, adjective |
| Meaning | Alternative spelling of bowtie | A man's necktie tied in a bow around the throat USA kind of road intersection. See Bowtie (road) Having the shape that the displayed part of a bowtie does when the latter is tied |
| Example | none recorded | The corkscrew pasta holds the cheese sauce better, but all I had in the cupboard was bowtie pasta |
| Forms | bow-ties | bowties |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /bəʊˈtaɪ/ /ˈboʊˌtaɪ/ /boʊˈtaɪ/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 4 million words |
Sources: bow tie and bowtie in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of bow tie and bowtie
bow tie
- 1
Alternative spelling of bowtie
- 2
Alternative spelling of bowtie
bowtie
- 1
A man's necktie tied in a bow around the throat
- 2
Having the shape that the displayed part of a bowtie does when the latter is tied
The corkscrew pasta holds the cheese sauce better, but all I had in the cupboard was bowtie pasta
- 3
USA kind of road intersection. See Bowtie (road)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, bow tie or bowtie?
bow tie is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; bowtie about once in every 4 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).