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Origin and history of tow

tow(v.)

"pull with a rope," Middle English touen, "haul or draw (something) by force," from Old English togian "to drag, pull," from Proto-Germanic *tugojanan (source also of 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 lead" (source also of Latin ducere "to lead").

Especially "draw through water by means of a rope or chain" (late 14c., implied in towing); the older general sense became obsolete; the maritime sense was transferred to automobiles. Related: Towed.

tow(n.1)

"coarse, broken fibers of flax, hemp, etc.," especially as separated from the finer parts; late 14c., tou, which is probably from Old English tow- "spinning" (in towlic "fit for spinning," tow-hus "spinning-room," tow-cræft), perhaps cognate with Gothic taujan "to do, make," Middle Dutch touwen "to knit, weave," from Proto-Germanic *taw- "to manufacture" (see taw (v.)).

"The original sense may have been 'textile fibre' generally" [OED, 1989]. It was used in caulking, dressing wounds, and as kindling.

also from late 14c.

tow(n.2)

c. 1300, "a rope," from tow (v.). The meaning "act or fact of towing, state of being towed" is from 1620s. As "vessel that tows" by 1874. Towing (n.) as "act or action of pulling something" is from c. 1200. To be in tow (1720) is to be in a state of being towed. Tow-line as "rope used in towing vessels" is attested by 1719; tow-rope in the same sense is by 1743.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to tow

taw(v.)

"prepare (leather, skin, hide) for use," Middle English tauen, from Old English tawian, getawian "prepare, make ready, make; cultivate," also "harass, insult, outrage," from Proto-Germanic *tawōjanan (source also of Old Frisian tawa, Old Saxon toian, Middle Dutch tauwen, Dutch touwen, Old High German zouwen "to prepare," Old High German zawen "to succeed," Gothic taujan "to make, prepare").

This is reconstructed to be from a Proto-Germanic root *taw- "to make, manufacture" (compare tool (n.), and Old English towcraft "spinning"). Boutkan offers no IE etymology for it and writes that the derivation given in Pokorny "seems unlikely for semantic reasons" (and notes that Pokorny himself expressed doubts).

Specifically "to tan or cure by alum and salt." Related: Tawed; tawing. Agent noun tauier, tawyer, tower is attested from early 14c., mid-13c. as a surname.

drawbridge(n.)

also draw-bridge, "bridge which may be drawn up or let down," c. 1300, drawebrigge, from draw (v.) + bridge (n.). Tow-bridge in the same sense is also from c. 1300 (see tow (v.)).