Bowbent is a compound of bow (a curved weapon or shape) + bent. Bow is from Old English boga ('bow, arch'), from Proto-Germanic *bugô; bent is the past participle of bend, from Old English bendan. The historical trail runs through boga in Old English and *bugô in Proto-Germanic. Morphologically, bowbent is transparent: it is a compound of bow (a curved weapon or shape) + bent. Used as an adjective, bowbent now means "bent like a bow; curved or stooped", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as bow, bent, and bend. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct.