tomboy

English

Alternative forms

• tom boy

Etymology

Etymology tree

Aramaic תאמא

Aramaic תאומא (təʾōmā)bor.

Ancient Greek Θωμᾶς (Thōmâs)bor.

Latin Thōmāsbor.

Middle English Thomas

Middle English Thomme

English Tom

English tom

Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-

Proto-Germanic *bō-

Proto-West Germanic *bōjō

Old English *bōia

Middle English boye

English boy

English tomboy

From tom +‎ boy. 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”.

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.

   Synonyms: hoyden, ladette, romp, bruh girl

   Antonyms: (with regards to behaviour) girly girl, (with regards to gender and behaviour) janegirl, (with regards to gender and behaviour but also the opposite sex and with the dynamic reverse) femboy

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

   • 2014 January 31, Kelly Wallace, “Pink, princess-y and sexy too soon”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     “When you have a little girl like mine who is obsessed with the ocean and giant squids and insect infestations in homes, she’s considered weird or odd or a tomboy when in fact, science and things like that should be considered girly.”

   • 2015, Kim Gordon, chapter 27, in Carrie Thornton, editor, Girl in a Band, New York: Dey st., →ISBN, page 161:

     I didn’t want to just look cool, or just look rock and roll; I wanted to look more girl. Looking back, I was trying to make more of a definite statement about what my look was and how I wanted to present myself. Tomboy, but more ambiguous than tomboy, too.

2. (obsolete) A rude, boisterous boy.
3. (obsolete) An immodest or bold woman.
4. (Philippines, colloquial) A butch lesbian.

Derived terms

• tomboyful
• tomboyhood
• tomboyish
• tomboyism
• tomboylike

Descendants

• → Cebuano: tomboy
• → Central Bikol: tomboy
• → Indonesian: tomboi
• → Malay: tomboi
• → Spanish: tomboy
• → Tagalog: tomboy

Translations

girl who acts as a typical boy would

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

  North Levantine Arabic: حَسَن صَبِيّ m

• Bengali: গেছো মেয়ে (gecho mee), ধিঙ্গি মেয়ে (dhiṅgi mee), মর্দানি (mordani)
• Breton: yourc'h (br) m
• Bulgarian: мъжкарана f (măžkarana)
• 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)

• Czech: babochlap
• 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
• Indonesian: tomboi (id), tomboy (id)
• Irish: cailín báire m
• Italian: maschiaccio (it) m
• Japanese: お転婆 (ja) (おてんば, otenba)
• Javanese: tomboi, tomboy
• Kazakh: еркекшора (erkekšora), еркек-шора (erkek-šora)
• 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 pers, babochłop (pl) m pers
• Portuguese: maria-rapaz f, menina macha f ("Menina" can be omitted.)
• Romanian: fată băiețoasă f
• 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.), hombruna f
• Sundanese: balakasikang (su)
• 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

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English tomboy.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

tomboy

1. tomboy (a girl who behaves in a typically boyish manner)
2. a lesbian; butch
   • 2018 — Pareja, Gerard, Shodi SOGIE? (11 February), Salins Hulbot, Opinion, Cebu Daily News

     May pipila pud nga mihisgut og Bibliya ug mipahimangno nga mahitabo unya kanato ang nahitabo sa Sodom and Gomora kon atong patuyangan ang gusto sa mga bayot ug tomboy.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Central Bikol

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

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English tomboy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔm.bɔj/

Noun

tomboy m or f (plural tomboys)

1. A girl or woman with a masculine appearance and taste in clothing.

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Aramaic תאמא

Aramaic תאומא (təʾōmā)bor.

Ancient Greek Θωμᾶς (Thōmâs)bor.

Latin Thōmāsbor.

Middle English Thomas

Middle English Thomme

English Tom

English tom

Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-

Proto-Germanic *bō-

Proto-West Germanic *bōjō

Old English *bōia

Middle English boye

English boy

English tomboyubor.

Spanish tomboy

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

Etymology tree

Aramaic תאמא

Aramaic תאומא (təʾōmā)bor.

Ancient Greek Θωμᾶς (Thōmâs)bor.

Latin Thōmāsbor.

Middle English Thomas

Middle English Thomme

English Tom

English tom

Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-

Proto-Germanic *bō-

Proto-West Germanic *bōjō

Old English *bōia

Middle English boye

English boy

English tomboybor.

Tagalog tomboy

Borrowed from English tomboy.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈtomboj/ [ˈt̪om.boɪ̯]
• Rhymes: -omboj
• Syllabification: tom‧boy

Noun

tomboy (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜋ᜔ᜊᜓᜌ᜔) (colloquial)

1. tomboy; boyish girl

   Synonyms: binalaki, binalalaki, marimatso, lalakinin, amasona, (back slang) yobmot

   • 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. butch; lesbian

   Synonyms: tibo, lesbiyana, lesbiya, (slang) leslie, (slang) shiboli, (slang) tiboom, (slang) T-bird, (back slang) yobmot, (slang) pompiyang

Derived terms

• yobmot