selfbow means A bow made from a single piece of wood (often referred to as a bow stave). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 92 out of 100.
selfbow is pronounced /ˈsɛlfbəʊ/.
Why “selfbow” is a great word
SELFBOW — [Noun] A bow crafted from a single, continuous piece of wood. From self (in the archery sense of "made from a single piece of wood") + bow. Unlike the composite bow, a sophisticated assembly of horn, sinew, and wood, or the laminated bow, a modern construction of glued plies, the selfbow is a testament to unity and reduction. It is the patient coaxing of a curve from a stave of yew, the quiet tension held along one unbroken line of grain, and the clean release that speaks of a tension resolved, not distributed—a testament to sufficiency found not in assembly, but in the singular will of one piece of wood, asked to bend but never to break.
Etymology
From self (“having its own or a single nature or character throughout without addition or change, unmixed; (archery) of a bow: made from a single piece of wood”, adjective) + bow.
noun
- A bow made from a single piece of wood (often referred to as a bow stave).“With reſpect to a bow being made round, we muſt recollect, that [Roger] Aſcham ſpeaks of a ſelf'''-bow; which, it ſeems, was made round as well as the back as in the belly: but back'd-bows have almoſt always a flat back, to prevent their caſting.”