goy
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Yiddish גוי (goy, “gentile”), from Hebrew גּוֹי (goi, “nation”).
Compare Exodus 19:6: ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש (mamlekhet kohanim wegoy qadosh, “ […] a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”) (referring to the Jewish people). The word goy technically refers not to non-Jews, but rather to a nation per se; the Jews are said to constitute a “goy”. But through common usage – namely referring to "the [other non-Jewish] nations" – the word came to colloquially refer to non-Jews.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
goy (plural goyim or goys or goyem)
- A non-Jew, a gentile. (See usage notes)
- 1988, Anthony Burgess, Any Old Iron:
- I don’t think that marriage is working, but I’m not going to be stupid about it and say she shouldn’t have married a goy.
Usage notesEdit
This noun is sometimes taken to be offensive; speakers wishing to avoid offense may prefer the term gentile (sometimes capitalized as Gentile) or simply non-Jew.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
AnagramsEdit
AnguthimriEdit
NounEdit
goy
ReferencesEdit
- Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 186
LadinoEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
goy m (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling גוי, plural goyim, feminine goya)
Further readingEdit
- Aitor García Moreno, editor (2013–), “goy, yá”, in Diccionario Histórico Judeoespañol (in Spanish), CSIC
- Aitor García Moreno, editor (2013–), “goyim”, in Diccionario Histórico Judeoespañol (in Spanish), CSIC
PortugueseEdit
Etymology 1Edit
NounEdit
goy m, f (plural goys)
- Alternative spelling of gói
Etymology 2Edit
Possibly by influence from English guy, by association with gay.
NounEdit
goy m (plural goys)
- a homossexual male who does not assume himself as such; gay
ReferencesEdit
- "Goy" in Dicionário Informal.