toy
English
Etymology
From Middle English toye (“amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment”), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (“tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament”) as in Dutch speel-tuig (“play-thing, toy”), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-Germanic *tiugiją (“stuff, matter, device", literally "that which is drawn”), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with German Spielzeug (“toy”), Danish legetøj (“play-thing, toy”). Related to tug, tow.
Pronunciation
Noun
toy (plural toys)
- Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child. [from 16th c.]
- A thing of little importance or value; a trifle. [from 16th c.]
- A simple, light piece of music, written especially for the virginal. [16th-17th c.]
- (obsolete) Love play, amorous dalliance; fondling. [16th-18th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.i:
- Then seemed him his Lady by him lay, / And to him playnd, how that false winged boy, / Her chast hart had subdewd, to learne Dame pleasures toy.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.i:
- (obsolete) A vague fancy, a ridiculous idea or notion; a whim. [16th-17th c.]
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol 1., III.i.2:
- Though they do talk with you, and seem to be otherwise employed, and to your thinking very intent and busy, still that toy runs in their mind, that fear, that suspicion, that abuse, that jealousy [...].
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol 1., III.i.2:
- (slang, derogatory) An inferior graffiti artist.
- 2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground (page 40)
- It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces.
- 2011, Adam Melnyk, Visual Orgasm: The Early Years of Canadian Graffiti (page 45)
- I was a toy until I met Sear, who moved here from Toronto and showed me the book Subway Art.
- 2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground (page 40)
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:toy
Derived terms
Translations
something to play with
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Verb
toy (third-person singular simple present toys, present participle toying, simple past and past participle toyed)
- To play with, to mock
- Figo is toying with the English defence.
- To ponder or consider.
- I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business.
Translations
to play with, to mock
to ponder or consider
See also
Faroese
Pronunciation
- IPA: /tʰɔiː/, /tʰœiː/
Noun
toy n (genitive singular toys, uncountable)
Declension
| n3s | Singular | |
| Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | toy | toyið |
| Accusative | toy | toyið |
| Dative | toyi | toyinum |
| Genitive | toys | toysins |
Middle French
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