English

flatbow

flat + bow

A compound of flat + bow

Proto-Germanic *flataz ‘flat’

Old Norse flatr ‘flat, level’

Middle English flat ‘level’

English flat

Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- ‘to bend’

Proto-Indo-European *bʰugʰ-

Proto-Germanic *bugô ‘bow (weapon)’

Old English boga ‘bow (weapon)’

Middle English bowe

English bow

Today it means

noun a bow with non-recurved, flat, relatively wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.