boy
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Middle English boy, boye, perh. after Old English Bōia man's name; c. West Frisian boi "young man"; akin to Old English bōfa, Old Norse bōfi, Old High German Buobo man's name (German Bube "knave, (dial.) boy, lad"), Dutch boef "knave" (from Middle Dutch boeve, perhaps from Middle Low German buobe), with comparisons in Middle Dutch boye (“‘servant’”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
boy (plural boys)
- (now rare) A male servant.
- When the 'dipenda' (independence movement) in Belgian Congo turned violent, the white colonisators' often materially privileged black domestic boys were mistrusted and often abused as collaborators.
- (US, offensive, pejorative, historical) A non-white slave or labourer; a male African-American of any age.
- (obsolete, pejorative) A lower-class or disreputable man; a worthless person.
- 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene 4:
- Dost thou call me fool, boy?
- 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene 4:
- A young male, usually a child or adolescent.
- The boys were playing kickball in the mud.
- Steve is a boy of 16.
- A man of any age, used as a friendly diminutive, or of a man who is merely younger than the speaker.
- Whatever else you say about him, the boy can play.
- 1977: I like the boy. — Australian entertainer Bert Newton, to Mohammed Ali at the 1977 Logie Awards, famously unaware of how insulting this is under the US usage below [1]
- An adult male, particularly when used by straight women or gay men to refer to someone considered attractive.
- (informal) Male (usually adult) friend; mainly used in the plural: boys.
- I’m going out for a few drinks with the boys.
- Me and my boy grew up together in Southside.
- (endearing) A proud parent's son, regardless of age.
- That's my boy.
- (endearing) A caring owner's pet or working animal, regardless of age.
- Here, boys, heel; yes, Bobby, show the puppies how, good boy!
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from boy
[edit] Descendants
- Irish: boyo
[edit] Translations
male servant
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male African-American
young male
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male of any age, used as a friendly diminutive
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adult male found attractive
male friend
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endearing: proud parent's son
- 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
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[edit] Interjection
boy
- Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
- "Boy, that was close!"
- "Boy, that tastes good!"
- "Boy, I wish I could go to Canada!"
[edit] Translations
surprise or pleasure
[edit] See also
- girl, man (antonyms in some senses)
- Appendix:Collective nouns
[edit] References
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
[edit] Dutch
[edit] Noun
boy m. (plural boys, diminutive boytje, diminutive plural boytjes)
- A male domestic servant, especially colored in a colony.
[edit] See also
[edit] Italian
[edit] Noun
boy m. (inv)
[edit] Sranan Tongo
[edit] Etymology
[edit] Noun
boy
- A boy
[edit] Turkish
[edit] Noun
boy
Categories: Middle English derivations | Old English derivations | Middle Dutch derivations | English nouns | Rare | US | Offensive | Pejoratives | History | Obsolete | Informal | English interjections | 1000 English basic words | Dutch nouns | Italian nouns | srn:English derivations | Sranan Tongo nouns | Turkish nouns

