tow: English has two words tow. The older, ‘pull’ [OE], came from a prehistoric Germanic *togōjan (source also of Norwegian toga ‘pull’). This was derived from the base *tog-, variants of which gave English team, tug, etc, and it goes back ultimately to the same Indo-European base as produced Latin dūcere ‘pull, lead’ (source of English conduct, duke, etc). Tow ‘flax or hemp fibre’ [14] was borrowed from Middle Low German touw.
This probably went back to the prehistoric Germanic base *tōw-, *taw- ‘make, prepare’ (source also of English tool), in the specialized sense ‘make yarn from wool, spin’. => conduct, duct, duke, educate, team, teem, tie, tug; tool
tow (v.)
"pull with a rope," Old English togian "to drag, pull," from Proto-Germanic *tugojanan (cognates: Old English teon "to draw," Old Frisian togia "to pull about," Old Norse toga, Old High German zogon, German ziehen "to draw, pull, drag"), from PIE root *deuk- "to pull, draw" (cognates: Latin ducere "to lead;" see duke (n.)). Related: Towed; towing.
tow (n.1)
"the coarse, broken fibers of flax, hemp, etc., separated from the finer parts," late 14c., probably from Old English tow- "spinning" (in towlic "fit for spinning," tow-hus "spinning-room"), perhaps cognate with Gothic taujan "to do, make," Middle Dutch touwen "to knit, weave," from Proto-Germanic *taw- "to manufacture" (see taw (v.)).
tow (n.2)
c. 1600, "rope used in towing," from tow (v.). Meaning "act or fact of being towed" is from 1620s.
例文
1. There she was on my doorstep with child in tow .
彼女は私の前に立って、後ろに子供がついてきた。
2.I can give you a tow if you want.
あなたが望むなら、私はあなたの車をドラッグすることができます。
3.See how stupidly they kow- tow to persons higher in the hierarchy.
上司の言いなりになっている様子がどれほど愚かなのか見てみましょう。
4.She had a reporter and a photographer in tow .
彼女には記者とカメラマンが追いかけてきた。
5.The broken-down car was taken in tow by a lorry.