bowsprit n.

"forward part of a ship," beginning where the sides trend inward, mid-14c., bou, boue, from a source such as Old Norse bogr, Middle Low German boog, Middle Dutch boech "bow of a ship," from Proto-Germanic *bugon-, from PIE root *bheug- "to bend," with derivatives referring to bent, pliable, or curved objects.

Old English spreot "pole, pike, spear," originally "a sprout, shoot, branch," from Proto-Germanic *sprut- (see sprout (v.)). Cognate with Middle Dutch spriet, Middle Low German spryet, German Spriet, North Frisian sprit. Restricted nautical sense of "diagonal spar from a mast" is from 14c. Related: Spritsail.

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to bend," with derivatives referring to bent, pliable, or curved objects.

It forms all or part of: akimbo; bagel; bight; bog; bow (v.) "to bend the body;" bow (n.1) "weapon for shooting arrows;" bow (n.2) "front of a ship;" bowsprit; buxom; elbow.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit bhujati "bends, thrusts aside;" Old English bugan, German biegen, Gothic biugan "to bend;" Old High German boug, Old English beag "a ring."