vows

Noun

vow (plural vows)

1. 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.
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
3. (obsolete) 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

See all 6 meanings of vow