tomboy

English

Alternative forms

• tom boy

Etymology

First attested in Ralph Roister Doister (published 1567, written circa 1552), where it is used to describe a boisterous girl; the OED says the citation is however "generally taken" to mean a boisterous boy, and says that a use in The Old Law (published 1656, thought to have been written circa 1599) "certainly" means a boy: "must young court-tits / play tomboys' tricks with her?" By 1579 it was attested in the meaning "an immodest woman", and by no later than 1592 it had developed its modern meaning of a “girl who acts like a boy”; from tom +‎ boy.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɒm.bɔɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑm.bɔɪ/
• Rhymes: -ɒmbɔɪ

Noun

tomboy (plural tomboys)

1. A girl who behaves in a typically boyish manner.

   His sister, his dearest and only playmate, is a tomboy at heart.

   Synonyms: hoyden, ladette, romp

   Antonym: (with regards to behaviour) girly girl

   Antonym: (with regards to gender) macho man

   Antonyms: (with regards to gender and behaviour) femboy, janegirl

2. (Philippines, colloquial) A lesbian; butch

Descendants

• → Cebuano: tomboy
• → Tagalog: tomboy

Translations

girl who acts as a typical boy would

• Arabic: فَتَاة مُسْتَرْجِلَة f (fatā(t) mustarjila)

  Levantine Arabic: حَسَن صَبِيّ m (ḥasan ṣabiyy)

• Bengali: গেছো মেয়ে (gecho mee), ধিঙ্গি মেয়ে (dhiṅgi mee), মর্দানি (mordani)
• Breton: yourc'h (br) m
• Bulgarian: мъжкарана f (mǎžkarana)
• Burmese: ယောက်ျားလျာ (my)
• Catalan: gallimarsot m (pejorative; rarely of children), noia masculina f ("Noia" can be omitted.)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 男人婆 (naam⁴ jan⁴ po⁴)

  Mandarin: 假小子 (zh) (jiǎxiǎozi), 女漢子／女汉子 (nǚhànzǐ)

• Danish: drengepige
• Dutch: tomboy (nl), wildebras (nl) f
• Finnish: poikatyttö (fi)
• French: garçon manqué (fr) m, garçonne (fr) f
• German: burschikos (de), jungenhaft (de) (both adjectives; if necessary, nominalize or construe with Mädchen); an ihr ist ein Junge verloren gegangen (literally “a boy has been lost on her”); Wildfang (de) m (bubbly, rambunctious, wild); Mannsweib (de) n (pejorative; rarely of children); tomboy
• Greek: αγοροκόριτσο (el) n (agorokóritso)
• Hungarian: fiús lány
• Irish: cailín báire m
• Italian: maschiaccio (it) m, ragazza masculina f (literally “masculine girl”) ("Ragazza" can be omitted.)
• Japanese: お転婆 (ja) (おてんば, otenba)
• Kazakh: еркекшора (erkekşora), еркек-шора (erkek-şora)
• Korean: 말괄량이 (ko) (malgwallyang'i)
• Latin: puella masculina f
• Macedonian: машкуда́нка f (maškudánka)
• Norman: garçonniéthe f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: guttejente (no) m or f

• Polish: baba-chłop (pl) f, chłopobaba f, chłopczyca (pl) f, herod-baba (pl) f, kobieton m, babochłop (pl) m
• Portuguese: maria-rapaz f, menina macha f ("Menina" can be omitted.)
• Russian: паца́нка (ru) f (pacánka), мужичка (ru) f (mužička), томбой f (tomboj)
• Spanish: marimacha f, marimacho (es) m, machorra (es) f, chicazo m, varonera f (Argentina, Uruguay), chica masculina f ("Chica" can be omitted.)
• Swedish: pojkflicka (sv) c
• Tagalog: tomboy
• Turkish: erkek Fatma, tomboy
• West Flemish: knechtebrokke f

See also

• tomgirl

References

• Why Calling Someone A "Tomboy" Is Problematic, Sebastian Zulch, May 4, 2015, Bustle magazine.

Further reading

• tomboy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Bikol Central

Etymology

Borrowed from English tomboy.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: tom‧boy
• IPA^(key): /ˈtomboj/, [ˈtom.boɪ̯]

Noun

tómbóy

1. a girl who behaves in a typically boyish manner
2. (colloquial) a lesbian; butch

   Synonyms: tibo, papanay

See also

• babayinhon
• bakla
• binabayi

 

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English tomboy.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: tom‧boy
• IPA^(key): /ˈtomboj/, [ˈt̪om.boɪ̯]

Noun

tomboy

1. a girl who behaves in a typically boyish manner
2. a lesbian; butch

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:tomboy.

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English tomboy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tomˈboi/ [t̪õmˈboi̯]
• Rhymes: -oi
• Syllabification: tom‧boy

Noun

tomboy f (plural tomboys)

1. tomboy (a boyish girl or woman)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English tomboy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtomboj/, [ˈtom.boɪ̯]
• Hyphenation: tom‧boy

Noun

tomboy (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜋ᜔ᜊᜓᜌ᜔)

1. (colloquial) tomboy; boyish girl

   Synonyms: binalaki, binalalaki, marimatso, lalakinin

   • 1973, Liwayway:

     Si Trudy, gaya ng palayaw sa kanya, ay isang tomboy. Sa kanilang lugar, walang batang lalaking nakadaig sa kanya sa ano mang uri ng sports.

     Trudy, like her nickname, is a tomboy. In their neighborhood, the boys cannot even beat her in any sports.

   • 1968, Dionisio S. Salazar, Pitong dula:

     Sa suot niyang " kamisadentrong panlalaki at "pedal-pusher" na maong ay wala siyang iniwan sa isang "tomboy". (Palinga-linga silang dalawa na tila may hinahanap. Pagtapat sa may puno ng adelpa ay titigil sila.)

     He did not leave the undershirt and "pedal-pusher" jeans to a tomboy (They are looking to the left and right like they are finding something. They will stop when they face the oleander tree.)

2. (colloquial) lesbian; butch

   Synonyms: tibo, lesbiyana, lesbiya, (slang) leslie, (colloquial) shiboli, (slang) tiboom, (slang) T-bird