English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /ˈbɔɪ.ˌfrɛnd/
- (US) IPA: /ˈbɔɪ.ˌfrɛnd/, /ˈbɔɪ.ˌfrɪnd/
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boyfriend (plural boyfriends)
- A male partner in a romantic relationship.
- 2012, Justin Bieber, Boyfriend
- If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go
I can take you places you ain’t never been before.
- A male friend.
Usage notes [edit]
In contrast to its female equivalent, girlfriend, which is often used to describe a woman's close female friends, the term is not that often used in reference to non-romantic relationships. Boyfriend is a relatively modern term, and in the past has had implications of an illicit relationship (as sexual and romantic relationships outside marriage were generally frowned upon). It is now a generally accepted term and has no negative implications.
Use of boyfriend generally implies that the male is a boy or a young man. An older man in a non-marital relationship and sometimes even a young man in a long-term relationship is more often described as a significant other or partner.
Separating the word into its two components boy friend avoids the romantic implication nowadays, although boy friend used to mean the same as boyfriend does now. However, British and Australian men usually refer to a male friend as a mate. Similarly, Americans and Canadians use the term buddy.
Translations [edit]
male partner in a romantic relationship.
- Arabic: خليل (ar) (xalīl) m, رفيق (ar) (rafīq) m
- Basque: mutil-lagun (eu)
- Belarusian: каханак (be) (kaxának) m, хлопец (be) (xlópec) m, сябар (be) (sjábar) m, прыяцель (be) (pryjácel’) m
- Bulgarian: гадже (bg) (gádže) n (boyfriend or girlfriend), приятел (bg) (prijátel) m, момче (bg) (momčé) n
- Catalan: xicot (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 男朋友 (cmn) (nánpéngyou), (boyfriend or girlfriend) 對象 (cmn), 对象 (cmn) (duìxiàng)
- Czech: přítel (cs) m, kluk (cs) m, milenec (cs) m
- Danish: kæreste (da)
- Dutch: vriend (nl) m, lief (nl) n
- Esperanto: koramiko (eo)
- Finnish: poikaystävä (fi), poikakaveri (fi) (boy), miesystävä (fi) (adult)
- French: chum (fr) m (Quebec), copain (fr) m, petit ami (fr) m
- Galician: noivo (gl) m
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: Freund (de) m, Boyfriend (de) m
- Gothic: 𐌷𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌰 (hulþa) m
- Hebrew: חבר (he) (khaver) m
- Hindi: बॉयफ़्रेंड (hi) (boyfreṇḍ) m, बॉयफ्रेंड (hi) (boyfreṇḍ, boyphreṇḍ) m
- Icelandic: kærasti (is) m
- Interlingua: nuptio (ia)
- Italian: ragazzo (it) m, fidanzato (it) m
- Japanese: カレ (ja) (kare), 彼 (ja) (かれ, kare) (it has two meanings, a fiance and he(pronoun).), 彼氏 (ja) (かれし, kareshi), カレシ (ja) (kareshi) , ボーイフレンド (ja) (bōifurendo)
- Jèrriais: galant m
- Korean: 남자친구 (ko) (namja-chingu), 보이프렌드 (ko) (boipeurendeu)
- Lao: ຜູ້ບ່າວ (lo) (phuu-baao)
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- Latin: amans (la), amator (la), amiculus (la), amicus (la)
- Luxembourgish: Frënd (lb) m
- Macedonian: момче (mk) (mómče) n, дечко (mk) (déčko) m, пријател (mk) (prijatel) m
- Malagasy: sipa (mg)
- Mongolian: найз банди (mn) (najz bandi)
- Navajo: hweʼeshkii
- Norwegian Bokmål: kjæreste (nb) m
- Persian: دوستپسر (fa) (dust-pesar)
- Polish: chłopak (pl) m, (colloquial, boyfriend or girlfriend) sympatia (pl) f, przyjaciel (pl) m
- Portuguese: namorado (pt) m
- Romanian: prieten (ro) m
- Russian: кавалер (ru) (kavalér) m, друг (ru) (drug) m, парень (ru) (páren’) m, возлюбленный (ru) (vozljúblennyj) m, бойфренд (ru) (bojfrɛ́nd) m, ухажёр (ru) (uxažór) m, приятель (ru) (prijátel’) m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: дечко (sh) m, пријатељ (sh) m
- Roman: dečko (sh) m, prijatelj (sh) m
- Slovak: priateľ (sk) m
- Slovene: fant (sl) m, prijatelj (sl) m
- Spanish: novio (es) m, (Chile) pololo (es) m
- Swedish: pojkvän (sv), kille (sv), käraste (sv) c
- Thai: แฟน (th) (faen) (boyfriend or girlfriend)
- Tibetan: དགའ་རོགས (bo) (dga' rogs)
- Turkish: erkek arkadaş (tr), sevgili (tr)
- Ukrainian: коханий (uk) (koxányj) m, парубок (uk) (párubok) m, хлопець (uk) (xlópec’) m, друг (uk) (druh) m, приятель (uk) (pryjátel’) m
- Urdu: بوایفرینڈ (ur) (boyfreṇḍ) m
- Vietnamese: bạn trai (vi), (also girlfriend; lover) người yêu (vi)
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See also [edit]
Finnish [edit]
boyfriend
- (rare) boyfriend
Declension [edit]
Declension of boyfriend (type risti)
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Synonyms [edit]
