boss
Meanings
- One who is in charge or something.
- One who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
- A person in charge of a business or company.
- A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
- The head of a political party in a given region or district.
- The male owner or man in charge of a large rural property.
- One's wife.
- A term of address to a man, especially a customer; sometimes also to a friend or acquaintance of equal standing.
- An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.
- To exercise authoritative control over; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.
- Of excellent quality, first-rate.
- A lump, protuberance, or swelling in an animal, person or object.
- A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock.
- A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
- A protrusion; frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.
- A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
- A roughly cut stone set in place for later carving.
- A target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached.
- A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder.
- A head or reservoir of water.
- To decorate with bosses; to emboss.
- A hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.
- A surname.
- Acronym of Bond and Option Sales Strategy.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō-? Proto-Germanic *baswô Proto-West Germanic *baswō Old Dutch *baso Middle Dutch baes Dutch baasbor. English boss From Dutch baas, from Middle Dutch baes (“master of a household, friend”), from Old Dutch *baso (“uncle, kinsman”), from Proto-West Germanic *baswō, from Proto-Germanic *baswô (“uncle”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *ba-, *bō- (“father, older male relative”), source also of the English terms babe, boy, bub, bully. Cognate with Middle Low German bās (“supervisor, foreman”), Old Frisian bas (“master”), hence Saterland Frisian Boas (“boss”), Old High German basa (“father's sister, cousin”), hence German Base (“aunt, cousin”). Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative. Later, in New Amsterdam, it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master. The video game sense is borrowed from Japanese ボス (bosu), borrowed from English boss.