boy
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English boy, boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Anglo-Frisian *bō-jan- (“younger brother”), diminutive of Proto-Germanic base *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhā-, *bhāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with West Frisian boai (“boy”), Eastern Frisian boi (“boy, young gentleman”), and perhaps to Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), German dialectal Bube (“boy, lad, knave”). See also bully.
[edit] Alternative forms
- boi (Jamaican English)
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
boy (plural boys)
- A young male human.
- 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, Bert Newton, to Mohammed Ali at the 1977 Logie Awards:[1]
- I like the boy.
- (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:
- 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] See also
- (African-American): uncle
[edit] Antonyms
- (young male): girl
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Descendants
[edit] Translations
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- 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.
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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
[edit] Verb
boy (third-person singular simple present boys, present participle boying, simple past and past participle boyed)
- To use the word boy to refer to someone.
- "Don't boy me!"
[edit] See also
- girl, man (antonyms in some senses)
- Appendix:English collective nouns
Boy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Boy (disambiguation)
[edit] References
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Dutch
[edit] Noun
boy m. (plural boys, diminutive boytje)
- A male domestic servant, especially colored in a colony.
[edit] See also
[edit] Italian
[edit] Noun
boy m. (inv)
[edit] Ladino
[edit] Etymology
From Turkish boy (“stature, size”).
[edit] Noun
boy m. (Latin spelling)
[edit] Sranan Tongo
[edit] Etymology
From English boy.
[edit] Noun
boy
- A boy
[edit] Turkish
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: [boj]
[edit] Etymology 1
From Old Turkic bod, from Proto-Turkic *bod.
[edit] Noun
boy
- stature
- boyun ne kadar? - how tall are you? (lit. "How much is your stature?")
- size
- küçük boy - small size
[edit] Etymology 2
From Old Turkic bod, from Proto-Turkic *bod.
[edit] Noun
boy
[edit] Declension
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English nouns
- English terms with rare senses
- American English
- English offensive terms
- English pejoratives
- English historical terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English informal terms
- English interjections
- English verbs
- 1000 English basic words
- Dutch nouns
- Italian nouns
- Ladino terms derived from Turkish
- Ladino nouns
- Sranan Tongo terms derived from English
- Sranan Tongo nouns
- Turkish terms derived from Old Turkic
- Turkish terms derived from Proto-Turkic
- Turkish nouns