boy
Meanings
- A male child.
- A young man.
- A son of any age.
- A male human younger than the speaker.
- A male human of any age, as opposed to a "girl" (female human of any age).
- A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave.
- A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, particularly
- A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee
- A younger such worker.
- A non-white male servant regardless of age, particularly as a form of address.
- A male camp follower.
- Any non-white male, regardless of age.
- Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
- To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).
- Initialism of beginning of year.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Proto-West Germanic *bōjō Old English *bōia Middle English boye English boy From Middle English boy /boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, 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”), Dutch boi (“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”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), Bavarian Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”), Lombard bagaj. See also bully.