Description
Please note these bow & arrow terms are mostly for traditional bows. Archery terms for compound bows and accessories is coming.
- Aim — The concentrated effort to direct an arrow to its target.
- Anchor Point − The point on the body touched by the string or the drawing (string) hand before releasing the arrow. This point is often a spot on the face, such as the corner of the mouth.
- Archer — One who shoots with, or is skilled in the use of, a bow and arrow.
- Archer’s Paradox − The effect generated by flexing of an arrow when it leaves the bow.
- Armguard — A guard worn on the bow arm to prevent the bowstring from slapping the arm or catching sleeves.
- Arrow — A straight, slender rod, usually fletched and tipped, shot from a bow.
- Arrowhead — The striking end of the arrow fastened to the arrow shaft.
- Arrow Plate — On traditional bows the material placed on or near the arrow shelf to protect the bow or from contacting the arrow during the release.
- Arrow Nock — The end of the arrow that accepts the bowstring.
- Arrow Shaft — A rod or tube used to make an arrow.
- Arrow Shelf — The flat or curved area just above the handle where the arrow rests.
- Bow back — The bow surface facing away from the archer when being drawn.
- Bow fishing − Using archery to catch fish.
- Bow hunting − Implementing archery in hunting and the practising of hunting.
- Broadhead − A sharp-bladed hunting head attached to an arrow.
- Bullseye − The centre of a target, for which hitting scores maximum points.
- Clout Archery − A discipline in archery to shoot at a flag. The closer arrow scores maximum points.
- Crest − Marking on an arrow used for design or identification.
- Crown − The nock end of the arrow where it is coloured.
- Daikyu − Term used by Japanese for longbow.
- Drawing − The pulling of the bowstring to an extreme stretch.
- Dry firing − To release the string without an arrow, causing damage to the bow.
- End − A round in which arrows are shot.
- English Longbow − A powerful bow during medieval period.
- Field tip − Head for practising against the targets.
- Fistmele − A good distance or the balancing height between the bowstring and bow handle.
- Flu-flu arrow − A short range arrow that was specially designed for practising.
- Footed arrow − An arrow along with a shaft of two types of wood.
- Game − Wild animals hunted for sport or food.
- Gungdo − A practise followed in Korea for the archery game.
- Hen feather − Name for shaft feather which was misunderstood for cock feather.
- Horse archer − An archer sitting on a horse.
- Index fletching − A coloured fletch for indication of proper alignment of arrows.
- Judo point − A target and also a small game head designed with springs for a better location.
- Kisser − Button indicating vertical distance while a bow is drawn.
- Limb − Lower and upper arms of a bow.
- Longrod − Rod on the bow attached to sustain vibrations.
- Mongolian Draw − To draw a bow using the thumb.
- Nock − To set an arrow to a bow.
- Overdraw − The situation when the bow is too large for the bow string.
- Plunger/ Pressure Button − Device for correcting the flex of an arrow during its release.
- Poisons − Toxics added to arrow heads to enhance the hunting impact.
- Quarrel − Also known as a bolt, it is a crossbow projection.
- Recurve bow − A bow, where the unstrung tips curve farther from the archer.
- Release − To relax the drawing hand fingers to free the arrow.
- Riser − The section for handling the bow.
- Safety arrow − Wide tip or padded head arrow, generally used for re-enactment.
- Self-bow − Bow made of single material.
- Shaft − The most important of all structural parts in an arrow.
- Spine − Stiffness in the shaft of an arrow with flex contraction.
- Stave − Wooden material used in making a bow.
- Tab − This leather latch is worn for the protection of fingers.
- Target archery − From different distances, shooting a steady target.
- Target shooting − A competition of using projectile weapons for testing expertise in archers.
- Tip − Top end of the bow, differentiated from arrow point.
- Upshot − The archery contest’s last shot.
- Vane − The fin of an arrow that stabilises the motion.
- Wand shoot − Event where players shoot arrows at soft wooden slat of 6’ tall and 2’’ wide.
- Yumi − A Japanese bow, mostly asymmetric, and consists of both short and long types.
