English - Alternative Forms

• boi (Jamaican English)

English - Etymology

From Middle English boy, boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-Germanic *bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Middle Dutch boi, booi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), English bub, Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), German dialectal Bube (“boy, lad, knave”), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”). See also bully.

English - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔɪ/
• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /bɔːə/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪ

English - Noun

boy (plural boys)

1. (now uncommon and/or offensive) Male servant.
   1. (now rare) A male servant, in general senses. [from 14th c.]
   2. (historical, now offensive) A non-white male servant, as used especially by whites in a colonial settlement etc. [from 17th c.]

      • When the 'dipenda' (independence movement) in Belgian Congo turned violent, the white colonisers' often materially privileged black domestic boys were mistrusted and often abused as collaborators.

   3. (now offensive) A non-white male. [from 19th c.]
2. (obsolete) A lower-class or disreputable man; a worthless person. [14th-17th c.]
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene 4:

     Dost thou call me fool, boy?

3. A young male human; a male child or young adult. [from 15th c.]

   the boys were playing kickball in the mud;  Steve is a boy of 16

4. A son.
   • Walter Scott

     My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee.

5. A man of any age, used as a friendly diminutive, or of a man who is merely younger than the speaker. [from 17th c.]
   • 1977, Bert Newton, to Mohammed Ali at the 1977 Logie Awards:^[1]

     I like the boy.

6. (colloquial) A male friend or fellow of some group, community etc. (mainly used in the plural). [from 19th c.]

   I’m going out for a few drinks with the boys;  me and my boy grew up together in Southside

7. A familiar way of addressing a male dog. [from 19th c.]

   Here, boys, heel; yes, Bobby, show the puppies how, good boy!

8. (US, slang) Heroin. [from 20th c.]

Synonyms

• brat
• knave
• lad
• squirt
• youngster
• youth
• See also Wikisaurus:boy

See also

• (African-American): uncle

Antonyms

• (young male): girl

Derived terms

Descendants

• Irish English: boyo
• Vietnamese: bồi

Translations

English - Interjection

boy

1. Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.

   Boy, that was close!

   Boy, that tastes good!

   Boy, I wish I could go to Canada!

Related terms

• oh boy

Translations

English - Verb

boy (third-person singular simple present boys, present participle boying, simple past and past participle boyed)

1. to use the word boy to refer to someone

   Don't boy me!

2. (transitive) to act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage)
   • Shakespeare

     I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness.

English - See Also

• girl, man (antonyms in some senses)
• Appendix:English collective nouns
• Boy on Wikipedia.en.Wikipedia:Boy (disambiguation)

English - References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

English - Anagrams

• byo, BYO
• yob

Dutch - Etymology

Borrowing from English boy.

Dutch - Noun

boy m (plural boys, diminutive boytje n)

1. a male domestic servant, especially colored in a colony

Dutch - See Also

• baboe

French - Etymology

Borrowing from English boy.

French - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔj/

French - Noun

boy m (plural boys)

1. (now historical, offensive) boy (non-white male servant)
   • 1930, André Malraux, La Voie royale:

     Claude allait l'ouvrir mais le ton sur lequel le délégué appelait son boy lui fit lever la tête : l'auto attendait, bleue sous l'ampoule de la porte; le boy, qui s'était écarté – en voyant arriver le délégué sans doute – se rapprochait, hésitant.

French - External Links

• “boy” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian - Etymology

Borrowing from English boy.

Italian - Noun

boy m (inv)

1. a male ballet dancer
2. a bellboy (in a hotel)

Ladino - Etymology

Borrowing from Turkish boy (“stature, size”).

Ladino - Noun

boy m (Latin spelling)

1. age, size

Portuguese - Etymology 1

Shortening of office boy, from English office boy.

Alternative forms

• bói

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

1. office boy
2. (Brazil, slang) a young, upper-class male

Synonyms

• (office boy): office boy
• (rich young man): mauricinho

Portuguese - Etymology 2

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

1. obsolete spelling of boi

Sranan Tongo - Etymology

From English boy.

Sranan Tongo - Noun

boy

1. boy

Turkish - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [boj]

Turkish - Etymology 1

From Old Turkic bod, from Proto-Turkic *bod.

Noun

boy (definite accusative {{{1}}}, plural {{{2}}})

1. stature

   Boyun ne kadar? ― How tall are you? (lit. "How much is your stature?")

2. size

   küçük boy ― small size

Derived terms

• boylu
• boyluluk
• boysuz
• boysuzluk

Turkish - Etymology 2

From Old Turkic bod, from Proto-Turkic *bod.

Noun

boy (definite accusative {{{1}}}, plural {{{2}}})

1. tribe, clan

   eski Türk boyları tarihi ― history of ancient Turkish clans

Declension

قافية