boy

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Contents

English[edit]

Painting of a boy.

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English boy, boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), 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”), Eastern Frisian boi (“boy, young gentleman”), 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”), German dialectal Bube (“boy, lad, knave”), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”). See also bully.

Alternative forms[edit]

  • boi (Jamaican English)

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

boy (plural boys)

  1. Male servant.
    1. (now rare) A male servant, in general senses. [from 14th c.]
    2. (now historical, offensive) A non-white male servant, as used especially by whites in a colonial settlement etc. [from 17th c.]
      When the 'dipenda' (independence movement) in Belgian Congo turned violent, the white colonisers' often materially privileged black domestic boys were mistrusted and often abused as collaborators.
    3. A son.
      • Sir Walter Scott
        My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee.
    4. (now offensive) A non-white male. [from 19th c.]
  2. (obsolete) A lower-class or disreputable man; a worthless person. [14th-17th c.]
    • 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene 4:
      Dost thou call me fool, boy?
  3. A young male human; a male child or young adult. [from 15th c.]
    The boys were playing kickball in the mud.
    Steve is a boy of 16.
  4. A man of any age, used as a friendly diminutive, or of a man who is merely younger than the speaker. [from 17th c.]
  5. (colloquial) A male friend or fellow of some group, community etc. (mainly used in the plural). [from 19th c.]
    I’m going out for a few drinks with the boys.
    Me and my boy grew up together in Southside.
  6. A familiar way of addressing a male dog. [from 19th c.]
    Here, boys, heel; yes, Bobby, show the puppies how, good boy!
  7. (US, slang) Heroin. [from 20th c.]

Synonyms[edit]

See also[edit]

  • (African-American): uncle

Antonyms[edit]

  • (young male): girl

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from boy

Descendants[edit]

Translations[edit]

male servant
historical: non-white male servant
non-white male
lower-class or disreputable man
young male
male of any age, used as a friendly diminutive
adult male found attractive
male friend
affectionate term of address for male dog
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Interjection[edit]

boy

  1. Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
    "Boy, that was close!"
    "Boy, that tastes good!"
    "Boy, I wish I could go to Canada!"

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

surprise or pleasure

Verb[edit]

boy (third-person singular simple present boys, present participle boying, simple past and past participle boyed)

  1. To use the word boy to refer to someone.
    "Don't boy me!"
  2. (transitive) To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).
    • Shakespeare
      I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Statistics[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Noun[edit]

boy m (plural boys, diminutive boytje)

  1. A male domestic servant, especially colored in a colony.

See also[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English boy.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

boy m (plural boys)

  1. (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.

Italian[edit]

Noun[edit]

boy m (inv)

  1. A male ballet dancer.
  2. A bellboy (in a hotel).

Ladino[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Turkish boy (“stature, size”).

Noun[edit]

boy m (Latin spelling)

  1. age, size

Sranan Tongo[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English boy.

Noun[edit]

boy

  1. A boy

Turkish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Turkic bod, from Proto-Turkic *bod.

Noun[edit]

boy

  1. stature
    boyun ne kadar? - how tall are you? (lit. "How much is your stature?")
  2. size
    küçük boy - small size
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Turkic bod, from Proto-Turkic *bod.

Noun[edit]

boy

  1. tribe, clan
    eski Türk boyları tarihi - history of ancient Turkish clans
Declension[edit]
declension of boy
singular (tekil) plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın) boy boylar
definite accusative (belirtme) boyu boyları
dative (yönelme) boya boylara
locative (bulunma) boyda boylarda
ablative (çıkma) boydan boylardan
genitive (tamlayan) boyun boyların
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