boy
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English boy, boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, from Proto-Germanic *bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”).
Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Middle Dutch boi, booi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), Bavarian Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”). See also bully.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: boi, IPA(key): /bɔɪ/
Audio (GA) (file) - (Southern American English) IPA(key): /bɔːə/
- Rhymes: -ɔɪ
NounEdit
boy (countable and uncountable, plural boys)
- A young male. [from 15th c.]
- Kate is dating a boy named Jim.
- 1440, Promptorium Parvulorum, 35:
- Bye or boye: Bostio.
- 1535, Bible (Coverdale), Zechariah, Chapter VIII, Verse 5:
- 1711 March 7, Jonathan Swift, Journal, line 208:
- I find I was mistaken in the sex, 'tis a boy.
- 1812, Lord Byron, Childe Harold, Canto II, xxiii, 72:
- Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy?
- (particularly) A male child or adolescent, as distinguished from infants or adults.
- 1876, Frances Eliza Millett Notley, The Kiddle-a-Wink, "A Tale of Love", page 169:
- "He is not quite a baby, Alfred," said Ellen, "though he is only a big stupid boy. We have made him miserable enough. Let us leave him alone."
- 1876, Frances Eliza Millett Notley, The Kiddle-a-Wink, "A Tale of Love", page 169:
- (diminutive) A son of any age.
- 1805, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
- My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee.
- (endearing, diminutive) A male of any age, particularly one rather younger than the speaker. [from 17th c.]
- (obsolete) A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave. [14th–17th c.]
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
- Dost thou call me fool, boy?
- (now rare and usually offensive outside some Commonwealth nations) A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, [from 14th c.] particularly:
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 211:
- He allowed his ‘boy’ - an overfed young negro from the coast - to treat the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence.
- 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, i, 37:
- ‘Why does he go out and pinch all his dogs in person? He's an administrator, isn't he? Wouldn't he hire a boy or something?’
‘We call them “staff”,’ Roger replies.
- ‘Why does he go out and pinch all his dogs in person? He's an administrator, isn't he? Wouldn't he hire a boy or something?’
- A younger such worker.
- 1721, Penelope Aubin, The Life of Madam de Beaumount, ii, 36:
- I resolved to continue in the Cave, with my two Servants, my Maid, and a Boy, whom I had brought from France.
- 1721, Penelope Aubin, The Life of Madam de Beaumount, ii, 36:
- (historical or offensive) A non-white male servant regardless of age, [from 17th c.] particularly as a form of address.
- 1625, W. Hawkins in Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes, Vol. I, iii, vii, 211:
- My Boy Stephen Grauener.
- 1834, Edward Markham, New Zealand or Recollections of It, 72:
- They picked out two of the strongest of the Boys (as they call the Men) about the place.
- 1876, Ebenezer Thorne, The Queen of the Colonies, or, Queensland as I Knew It, 58:
- The blacks who work on a station or farm are always, like the blacks in the Southern States, called boys.
- 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 233:
- From a domestic point of view the advent of the Chinese was a decided blessing, for, instead of the European ladies of the settlement having to do all their own work, they were able to employ a proper staff of Chinese boys.
- 1907 May 13, N.Y. Evening Post, 6:
- [In Shanghai,] The register clerk assigns you to a room, and instead of ‘Front!’ he shouts ‘Boy!’
- 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 521:
- He thrust his head into the aisle. "Boy!" A Chinese in a white coat responded listlessly. "What will you have? Beer?"
- 1960 February 5, Northern Territory News, 5/5:
- Aborigine Wally... described himself as ‘number one boy’ at the station.
- 1625, W. Hawkins in Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes, Vol. I, iii, vii, 211:
- (obsolete) A male camp follower.
- 1572, John Sadler translating Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Foure Bookes... Contayninge a Plaine Forme, and Perfect Knowledge of Martiall Policye..., iii, vii:
- If any water be rough and boysterous, or the chanell verye broade, it manye times drowneth the carriages and the boyes and nowe and then slouthfull and lyther souldiours.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:
- 1572, John Sadler translating Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Foure Bookes... Contayninge a Plaine Forme, and Perfect Knowledge of Martiall Policye..., iii, vii:
- (now offensive) Any non-white male, regardless of age. [from 19th c.]
- 1812, Anne Plumptre translating Hinrich Lichtenstein, Travels in Southern Africa, in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806, Vol. I, i, viii, 119:
- A Hottentot... expects to be called by his name if addressed by any one who knows it; and by those to whom it is not known he expects to be called Hottentot... or boy.
- 1888, Louis Diston Powles, Land of Pink Pearl, or Recollections of Life in the Bahamas, 66:
- Every darky, however old, is a boy.
- 1973 September 8, Black Panther, 7/2:
- [In Alabama,] Guards still use the term ‘boy’ to refer to Black prisoners.
- 1979, Bert Newton and Mohammed Ali, The Logie Awards:
- BN: [repeating a catchphrase] I like the boy.
MA: [to hostile audience] Hold it, hold it, hold it. Easy. Did you say ‘Roy’ or ‘boy’?
BN: ‘I like the boy’. There's nothing wrong with saying that... Hang on, hang on, hang on... I'll change religion, I'll do anything for ya, I don't bloody care... What's wrong with saying that? ‘I like the boy’?
MA: Boy...
BN: I mean, I like the man. I'm sorry, Muhammad.
- BN: [repeating a catchphrase] I like the boy.
- 1812, Anne Plumptre translating Hinrich Lichtenstein, Travels in Southern Africa, in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806, Vol. I, i, viii, 119:
- A male animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male dog. [from 15th c.]
- C'mere, boy! Good boy! Who's a good boy?
- Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?
- (historical, military) A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.
- 1841 May 6, Times in London, 5/4:
- Wounded... 1 Boy, 1st class, severely.
- 1963 April 30, Times in London, 16/2:
- He joined the Navy as a boy second class in 1898.
- 1841 May 6, Times in London, 5/4:
- (US, slang, uncountable) Heroin. [from 20th c.]
- 2021, Tim Weber, Heroin: the Ripple Effect
- […] drove by a corner, saw what I thought—no, what I knew—were dealers and asked if they knew where I could get some boy.
- 2021, Tim Weber, Heroin: the Ripple Effect
- (somewhat childish) A male (tree, gene, etc).
- 1950, Pageant:
- Are there “boy” trees and “girl” trees? Yes. A number of species, among them the yew, holly and date-bearing palm, have their male and female flowers on different trees. The male holly, for instance, must be planted fairly close to the female ...
- 1970 [earlier 1963], Helen V. Wilson, Helen Van Pelt, Helen Van Pelt's African Violets, Dutton Adult (→ISBN):
- Of the 100 percent total, 25 will have two girl genes, 50 will have one boy and one girl gene, and 25 will have two boy genes.
- 1950, Pageant:
Alternative formsEdit
SynonymsEdit
- (young male): See Thesaurus:boy
- (diminutive term of address to males): chap, guy, lad, mate
- (son): See son
- (male servant): manservant
- (disreputable man): brat, knave, squirt
- (heroin): See Thesaurus:heroin
AntonymsEdit
- (young male): See Thesaurus:girl
Derived termsEdit
- all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
- all-boys
- alphabet boy
- altar boy
- atta boy
- attaboy
- B-boy
- b-boy
- baby boy
- backroom boy
- bad boy
- bad-boy
- bag boy
- bagboy
- ball boy
- banjee boy
- barboy
- Barnardo's boy
- barra boy
- barrow boy
- barrow-boy
- Barry boy
- bat boy
- batty boy
- bell boy
- bellboy
- bendy-boy
- best boy
- big boy
- big boy pants
- big boys
- big boys
- big-boy pants
- birthday boy
- black boy
- blackboy
- blue-eyed boy
- boat boy
- boi
- bonfire boy
- boot boy
- boot-boy
- boss boy
- bovver boy
- box boy
- boy band
- boy bishop
- boy bits
- boy crazy
- boy cunt
- boy friend
- boy hole
- boy howdy
- boy in blue
- boy in buttons
- boy in the boat
- boy juice
- boy meets girl
- boy next door
- boy oh boy
- boy or girl paradox
- boy parts
- boy pussy
- boy racer
- Boy Scout
- boy scout
- boy shorts
- boy toy
- boy wonder
- boy-bishop
- boy-crazy
- boy-cunt
- boy-cut
- boy-friend
- boy-girl
- boy-meets-girl
- boy-next-door
- boy-short
- boy-shorts
- boy-toy
- boyfriend
- boyhood
- boyish
- boyism
- boykin
- boylove
- boylover
- boyly
- boys and girls
- boys and girls
- boys and their toys
- boys and their toys
- boys of summer
- boys will be boys
- boys will be boys
- boytjie
- breaker boy
- broth of a boy
- bubble boy disease
- bubble boy syndrome
- buddy boy
- bug boy
- bully boy
- bully-boy
- bum boy
- busboy
- business boy
- butcher boy
- cabana boy
- cabin boy
- cabin-boy
- cake boy
- call boy
- call-boy
- callboy
- cash boy
- CC boy
- charity boy
- Chelsea boy
- cherry boy
- chick boy
- choir boy
- choirboy
- city boy
- climbing boy
- college boy
- copy boy
- corner boy
- cowboy
- day boy
- dayboy
- delivery boy
- dolly-boy
- dough boy
- doughboy
- Dutch boy
- e-boy
- every good boy deserves fudge
- fag boy
- fag-boy
- fair-haired boy
- farm boy
- fly-boy
- frat boy
- friend boy
- fuck boy
- fuck-boy
- garden boy
- gay boy
- gay tyke boy
- girl-boy
- God boy
- golden boy
- golden shower boy
- good ol' boy
- good old boy
- good old boy network
- good ole boy
- grease boy
- haut-boy
- hawk boy
- head boy
- hod boy
- homeboy
- hoo boy
- hoo-boy
- hopper boy
- horse boy
- house boy
- house-boy
- houseboy
- It boy
- jack boy
- jack-boy
- jobs for the boys
- jolly boy
- kept boy
- knife-boy
- lady boy
- lawnboy
- liftboy
- link boy
- little boy
- little boys room
- loblolly boy
- lover boy
- loverboy
- lowboy
- M and M boys
- mama's boy
- mamma's boy
- man and boy
- man-boy
- momma's boy
- monkey boy
- mummy's boy
- muscle boy
- my boy
- nancy boy
- newsboy
- office boy
- oh boy
- old boy
- old boy network
- old-boy network
- our boy
- page boy
- pageboy
- paperboy
- party boy
- peg boy
- Perry boy
- pick-me boy
- pizza boy
- po' boy
- pool boy
- poor boy
- post boy
- poster boy
- pot boy
- potboy
- pretty boy
- principal boy
- pull-up boy
- pussy-boy
- rent boy
- roaring boy
- rude boy
- rugby boy
- saga boy
- sailor boy
- salesboy
- schoolboy
- sea boy
- send a boy to do a man's job
- shag-boy
- shamba boy
- shoeshine boy
- shopboy
- showboy
- since Adam was an oakum boy
- since Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham Dockyard
- slaveboy
- soap boy
- soft boy
- sonny boy
- soy boy
- stable boy
- stable-boy
- stableboy
- starboy
- stick boy
- stock boy
- stock-boy
- suck-boy
- t-boy
- tallboy
- Teddy boy
- teddy boy
- telegraph boy
- tom boy
- tomboy
- ton-up boy
- toy boy
- toy-boy
- traffic boy
- valley boy
- water boy
- wet boy
- when Adam was an oakum boy
- when Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham Dockyard
- whipping boy
- white boy
- whiteboy
- who's a pretty boy then
- wide boy
- wolf boy
- wonderboy
- ya boy
- Yahoo boy
- Yellow Boy
- yellow boy
- your boy
DescendantsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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InterjectionEdit
boy
- Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
- Boy, that was close!
- Boy, that tastes good!
- Boy, I wish I could go to Canada!
- 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
- Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under the wires.
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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VerbEdit
boy (third-person singular simple present boys, present participle boying, simple past and past participle boyed)
- (transitive) To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).
- c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness.
See alsoEdit
- girl, man (antonyms in some senses)
- Appendix:English collective nouns
ReferencesEdit
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
AnagramsEdit
AzerbaijaniEdit
Cyrillic | бој | |
---|---|---|
Perso-Arabic | بوْی |
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Turkic *bod (“body, stature; self; kin, tribe, etc”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)
DeclensionEdit
Declension of boy | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | |||||||
nominative | boy |
boylar | ||||||
definite accusative | boyu |
boyları | ||||||
dative | boya |
boylara | ||||||
locative | boyda |
boylarda | ||||||
ablative | boydan |
boylardan | ||||||
definite genitive | boyun |
boyların |
Derived termsEdit
CebuanoEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
boy
SynonymsEdit
ChibchaEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy
- Alternative form of boi
ReferencesEdit
- Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.
ChineseEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) The name of the Latin-script letter B.
See alsoEdit
DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy m (plural boys, diminutive boytje n)
- (historical, now offensive) a male domestic servant, especially one with a darker skin in a colony
- (informal) boy, young man
- Ik vind die Roy echt een rare boy. ― I think this Roy is really a strange young man.
See alsoEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy m (plural boys)
- (now historical, offensive) boy (non-white male servant)
- 1930, André Malraux, La Voie royale:
- Claude allait l'ouvrir mais le ton sur lequel le délégué appelait son boy lui fit lever la tête : l'auto attendait, bleue sous l'ampoule de la porte; le boy, qui s'était écarté – en voyant arriver le délégué sans doute – se rapprochait, hésitant.
- 1930, André Malraux, La Voie royale:
Further readingEdit
- “boy”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
HungarianEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy (plural boyok)
- A young male servant, low-position assistant.
- bellboy (in a hotel)
- Synonym: londiner
- office boy, errand boy, deliveryman
- bellboy (in a hotel)
- (dated) A male ballet dancer.
DeclensionEdit
Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | boy | boyok |
accusative | boyt | boyokat |
dative | boynak | boyoknak |
instrumental | boyjal | boyokkal |
causal-final | boyért | boyokért |
translative | boyjá | boyokká |
terminative | boyig | boyokig |
essive-formal | boyként | boyokként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | boyban | boyokban |
superessive | boyon | boyokon |
adessive | boynál | boyoknál |
illative | boyba | boyokba |
sublative | boyra | boyokra |
allative | boyhoz | boyokhoz |
elative | boyból | boyokból |
delative | boyról | boyokról |
ablative | boytól | boyoktól |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
boyé | boyoké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
boyéi | boyokéi |
Possessive forms of boy | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | boyom | boyaim |
2nd person sing. | boyod | boyaid |
3rd person sing. | boya | boyai |
1st person plural | boyunk | boyaink |
2nd person plural | boyotok | boyaitok |
3rd person plural | boyuk | boyaik |
Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
Further readingEdit
- boy in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (’A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2023)
ItalianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Pseudo-anglicism. In the sense "bellboy", a clipping of English bellboy; in other meanings, a transferred sense of English boy.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy m (plural boys)
ReferencesEdit
- ^ boy in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Further readingEdit
- boy in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
LadinoEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Turkish boy (“stature, size”).
NounEdit
boy m (Latin spelling)
Middle EnglishEdit
NounEdit
boy (plural boys)
- Alternative spelling of boye
PolishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Unadapted borrowing from English boy, from Middle English boy, boye, from Old English *bōia, from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, from Proto-Germanic *bōjô, from *bō-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt-.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy m pers
- bellboy, office boy
- Synonym: garson
DeclensionEdit
Further readingEdit
PortugueseEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Ellipsis of office boy, from English office boy.
Alternative formsEdit
NounEdit
boy m (plural boys)
- office boy
- (Brazil, slang) a young, upper-class male
SynonymsEdit
- (office boy): office boy
- (rich young man): mauricinho
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
boy m (plural boys)
- Obsolete spelling of boi
SpanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy m (plural boys)
Further readingEdit
- “boy”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Sranan TongoEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- boi (official spelling)
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy
- (unofficial spelling) boy
TagalogEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy
- (colloquial) errand boy; houseboy; boy doing a menial job (usually young)
Derived termsEdit
TurkishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Proto-Turkic *bod. See dialectal bodur (“stout, short”).
NounEdit
boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)
- stature
- Boyun ne kadar? ― How tall are you? (lit. "How much is your stature?")
- size
- küçük boy ― small size
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)
DeclensionEdit
Inflection | ||
---|---|---|
Nominative | boy | |
Definite accusative | boyu | |
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | boy | boylar |
Definite accusative | boyu | boyları |
Dative | boya | boylara |
Locative | boyda | boylarda |
Ablative | boydan | boylardan |
Genitive | boyun | boyların |
Etymology 3Edit
From Ottoman Turkish بوی (boy).
NounEdit
boy
ReferencesEdit
- Clauson, Gerard (1972) An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 384b
- Eren, Hasan (1999), “boy”, in Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü [Etymological Dictionary of the Turkish Language] (in Turkish), Ankara: Bizim Büro Basım Evi, page 59a
WestrobothnianEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Norse bógr (“shoulder”), from Proto-Germanic *bōguz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāǵʰus.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
boy m (definite singular boyen)
- shoulder (of an animal)