vow
/vaʊ/
vow noun: a solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order.
Noun
vow (plural vows)
- A solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order.
- The old hermit, up in the mountains, took a vow of silence.
- And Moses spake vnto the heads of the tribes, concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.
If a man vowe a vow vnto the Lord, or sweare an othe to bind his soule with a bond: he shall not breake his word, hee shall doe according to all that proceedeth...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 30:1–2
- A declaration or assertion.
- Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37
- A votive offering.
- There are also waxen vows, that represent other parts of the body mixed with them; but of these there are few in comparison of the number of the Priapi.1786, Richard Payne Knight, The Worship of Priapus
Verb
vow (third-person singular simple present vows, present participle vowing, simple past and past participle vowed)
- To make a vow; to promise.
- When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 5:4
- We do not vow that we will never sin, nor neglect a duty (nor ought we to do so).1673, Richard Baxter, Christian Directory
- To make a vow regarding (something).
- The wronged woman vowed revenge.
- To declare publicly that one has made a vow, usually to show one's determination or to announce an act of retaliation.
- The rebels vowed to continue their fight.
vow meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
vow in Hindi
- a solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner
- वचन vacan, प्रण praṇ, व्रत vrat, प्रतिज्ञा pratijñā, मन्नत mannat
- a declaration or assertion
- संकल्प saṅkalp
- to make a vow
- वचन vacan, प्रण praṇ, प्रतिज्ञा pratijñā
vow in Tamil
- சூளுரை சபதம், சத்தியம், நேர்த்தி
vow in Marathi
- a vow
- नवस navas
- vow
- व्रत vrat
vow in Urdu
- a solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner
- نَذْر nazr
More languagesFewer languages
- vow in Bengali
- প্রতিজ্ঞা prótigga
- vow in Telugu
- నోము nōmu, మ్రొక్కుబడి mrokkubaḍi, మొక్కుబడి mokkubaḍi, వ్రతము vratamu
- vow in Malayalam
- പ്രതിജ്ഞ pratijña, പ്രാർത്ഥന prāṟtthana
- vow in Kannada
- ಪರಕೆ parake
- vow in Punjabi
- ਕੌਲ kaul, ਨੇਮ nem, وعدہ vaʻdah, ਸਹੁੰ sahũ
- vow in Sanskrit
- व्रत vratá
- vow in Pashto
- لوړل
- vow in Arabic
- نَذْر naḏr, نَذَرَ naḏara
- vow in Vietnamese
- lời thề, lời nguyền, phát nguyện, tuyên thệ
Examples of vow in a sentence
- She was dispensed from her vows and married Captain von Trapp.
- He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.
- Members of religious communities sometimes take vows to remain celibate.
Forms of vow
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | vows |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | vows |
| present participle | vowing |
| past participle | vowed |
| past | vowed |
Origin of vow
Inherited from Middle English vowe, voue, that from Old French vut, in turn from Latin vōtum (“a promise, dedication, vow”), from vovēre (“to promise, vow”). Not related to avow. Doublet of vote.
Words formed from vow
Phrases with vow
Words that rhyme with vow
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about vow
- What does vow mean?
- Vow means a solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order.
- What is vow in Hindi?
- Vow in Hindi is वचन (vacan), प्रण (praṇ), व्रत (vrat). See Vow meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is vow?
- Vow can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce vow?
- Vow is pronounced /vaʊ/.
- What is the plural of vow?
- The plural of vow is vows.
Words near vow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vow (page history and authors); vow (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); नवस (Marathi) (page history and authors); প্রতিজ্ঞা (Bengali) (page history and authors); అనంతవ్రతము (Telugu) (page history and authors); പ്രതിജ്ഞ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಪರಕೆ (Kannada) (page history and authors); وعدہ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); لوړل (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-vow.wav, En-us-vow.ogg.
Cite this entry: “vow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.