Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOUGH, n. [bou; Sax. bog, boh or bogh, the shoulder, a branch, an arm, the body of a tree, a stake, a tail, an arch, or bow; Sw. bog; Dan. bov; from the same root as bow, to bend, to throw; Sax. bugan.]

The branch of a tree; applied to a branch of size, not to a small shoot.