bowing
bow·ing/ˈboʊɪŋ/noun, verb
bowing is spelled B-O-W-I-N-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables (bow·ing). It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bowing means “The act of bending at the waist, as a sign of respect or greeting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bowing is bowings.
How many letters and syllables are in bowing?
| Letters | 6: B-O-W-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: bow·ing |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bowing?
Bowing appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bowing?
- /ˈbaʊɪŋ/
- US /ˈboʊɪŋ/
- UK /ˈbəʊɪŋ/
Bowing has 2 syllables, split bow·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bowing.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with bowing?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bowing from its last stressed vowel (/oʊɪŋ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bowing
- bowings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bowing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of bending at the waist, as a sign of respect or greeting.
The courtier had practiced his bowing.
- 2
A bending.
The heavy books caused a bowing in the shelf.
- 3
A technique for using the bow on a string instrument such as a violin.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of bow (all senses)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bowing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the act of bending as a sign of respect:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | reverência |
| Spanish | prosternación, inclinación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.