goy

See also: Goy, göy, gøy, and goþ

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 15 April 2016

English Wikipedia has an article on:

goy

Wikipedia

Alternative formsEdit

Goy
goi, Goi

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

IPA^(key): /ɡɔɪ/
- Audio (UK)
  (file)
- Audio (US)
  (file)
Rhymes: -ɔɪ

NounEdit

goy (plural goyim or goys or goyem)

A non-Jew, a gentile. (See usage notes)
Synonyms: akum, gentile, shegetz, shkotz

Hyponym: (female) shiksa
- 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.