Bow-wow Word
Preserved but no longer current.
A word in imita- tion of the sound made, as hiss, cackle,, murmur, cuckoo, etc. Hence the bow-wow school, a term applied in ridicule to philologists who sought to derive speech and language from the sounds made by animals. The terms were first used by Max Muller.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Bow-wow Word” mean?
A word in imita- tion of the sound made, as hiss, cackle,, murmur, cuckoo, etc. Hence the bow-wow school, a term applied in ridicule to philologists who sought to derive speech and language from the sounds made by animals. The terms were first used by Max Muller.
Is “Bow-wow Word” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.