Obs. U.S. [ad. Du. bouwerij ‘husbandry,’ ‘farm.’] A farm; a ‘plant.’ Hence ‘the Bowery’ in New York City.
1809. W. Irving, Knickerb. (1861), 116. His abode which he had fixed at a bowery, or country-seat, at a short distance from the city, just at what is now called Dutch Street. Ibid. (1842), Braceb. Hall, II. 225. He had purchased a farm, or, as the Dutch Settlers called it, a bowerie.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U. S. The [Dutch] emigrants were scattered on boweries or plantations.
Hence Boweryish a., smacking of the Bowery in New York.
1846. Poe, Wks. (1864), III. 109. Elevating the tone of this ‘Editor’s Table’ (which its best friends are forced to admit is a little Boweryish).
