English

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Etymology

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From Middle English vowe, voue, that from Old French vut, in turn from Latin vōtum (“a promise, dedication, vow”), from vovēre (“to promise, vow”). Doublet of vote.

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key):

  /vaʊ/

• Rhymes:

  -aʊ

  • Audio (UK)
  • Audio (US)

Noun

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vow (plural vows)

Usage notes

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• One normally makes or takes a vow, or simply vows (see below).
• Commonly mentioned vows include those of silence, obedience, poverty, chastity, and celibacy.
• ‘to keep/pay/fulfill a vow’ = to honor a vow
• ‘to break a vow’ = to dishonor a vow

Translations

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a solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner

• Arabic: نَذْر

  m

  (

  naḏr

  )

  Egyptian Arabic: ندر

  m

  (

  nadr

  )

• Armenian: ուխտ(hy)

  (

  uxt

  )

  , երդում(hy)

  (

  erdum

  )

• Asturian: votu

  m

• Belarusian: кля́тва

  f

  (

  kljátva

  )

  , кляцьба́

  f

  (

  kljacʹbá

  )

  , прыся́га

  f

  (

  prysjáha

  )

  , заро́к

  m

  (

  zarók

  )

• Bulgarian: кле́тва(bg)

  f

  (

  klétva

  )

  , обет(bg)

  m

  (

  obet

  )

• Catalan: vot(ca)

  m

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 誓言(zh)

  (

  shìyán

  )

  , 誓約(zh)誓约(zh)

  (

  shìyuē

  )

  Min Nan: 愿

  (

  goān

  )

• Czech: slib(cs)

  m

  , přísaha(cs)

  f

• Danish: løfte(da)

  n

• Dutch: gelofte(nl)

  f

• Esperanto:

  please add this translation if you can

• Estonian: lubadus
• Finnish: vala(fi)lupaus(fi)
• French: voeu(fr)

  m

  , vœu(fr)

  m

• Galician: voto(gl)

  m

• Georgian: ფიცი

  (

  pici

  )

  , აღთქმა

  (

  aɣtkma

  )

• German: Gelübde(de)

  n

  , Schwur(de)

  m

  , Eid(de)

  m

  , Gelöbnis(de)

  n

• Greek: όρκος(el)

  m

  (

  órkos

  )

  Ancient: ὅρκος

  m

  (

  hórkos

  )

• Hebrew: נֶדֶר(he)

  m

  (

  néder

  )

• Hindi: व्रत(hi)

  m

  (

  vrat

  )

• Hungarian: fogadalom(hu)
• Ido: vovo(io)
• Italian: voto(it)

  m

• Japanese: 誓い(ja)

  (

  ちかい, chikai

  )

  , 誓約(ja)

  (

  せいやく, seiyaku

  )

• Korean: 맹세(盟誓)(ko)

  (

  maengse

  )

  , 서약(誓約)(ko)

  (

  seoyak

  )

• Latin: vōtum

  n

• Latvian: apsolījums

  m

• Lithuanian: įžadas

  m

• Macedonian: заклетва

  f

  (

  zakletva

  )

• Ngazidja Comorian: nadhiri

  9 or 10

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: løfte(no)

  n

• Old English: behāt

  n

• Polish: ślub(pl)

  m

  , przysięga(pl)

  f

• Portuguese: bodo(pt)

  m

  , voto(pt)

  m

• Romanian: jurământ(ro)
• Russian: кля́тва(ru)

  f

  (

  kljátva

  )

  , прися́га(ru)

  f

  (

  prisjága

  )

  , обе́т(ru)

  m

  (

  obét

  )

  , заро́к(ru)

  m

  (

  zarók

  )

• Sanskrit: व्रत(sa)

  n

  (

  vratá

  )

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: заклетва

  f

  , присега

  f

  Roman: zakletva(sh)prisega(sh)

  f

• Slovak: prísaha

  f

  , sľub

  m

• Slovene: prisega(sl)

  f

• Spanish: voto(es)

  m

  , manda(es)

  f

  , promesa(es)

  f

• Swahili: nadhiri

  9 or 10

• Swedish: löfte(sv)

  n

• Tocharian B: wrat
• Turkish: yemin(tr)
• Ugaritic: 𐎐𐎄𐎗

  (

  ndr

  )

• Ukrainian: кля́тва

  f

  (

  kljátva

  )

  , клятьба́

  f

  (

  kljatʹbá

  )

  , прися́га

  f

  (

  prysjáha

  )

  , обі́т

  m

  (

  obít

  )

a declaration or assertion

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保證(zh)保证(zh)

  (

  bǎozhèng

  )

• Dutch: eed(nl)

  m

• Finnish: lupaus(fi)vakuutus(fi)

• Georgian: განცხადება

  (

  gancxadeba

  )

• German: Eid(de)

  m

• Greek: διαβεβαίωση(el)

  f

  (

  diavevaíosi

  )

• Italian: voto(it)

  m

• Russian: обяза́тельство(ru)

  n

  (

  objazátelʹstvo

  )

  , завере́ние(ru)

  n

  (

  zaverénije

  )

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Mongolian: (please verify) андгар(mn)

  (

  andgar

  )

• Yakut: (please verify) андаҕар

  (

  andağar

  )

Verb

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vow (third-person singular simple present vows, present participle vowing, simple past and past participle vowed)

Translations

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Derived terms

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Related terms

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Terms etymologically related to the noun or verb vow

• devote

• vote

• votive

Further reading

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• “vow” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “vow” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• vow at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

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