English Explanatory Dictionary

buoy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational channel or for other purposes
  2. A lifebuoy; a life preserver.
  3. A sign where the non-dominant hand is held in a stationary configuration as a landmark for meaning associations with the dominant hand.
verb
  1. To keep afloat or aloft; used with up.
  2. To support or maintain at a high level.
  3. To mark with a buoy.
  4. To maintain or enhance enthusiasm or confidence; to lift the spirits of.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɔɪ/ /ˈbu.i/ /ˈbwɔɪ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-buoy.wav

Word forms

buoy buoys buoying buoyed

Etymology

From Middle English boy, boye, from Middle Dutch boeye (“float, buoy”), from Old French boue (“piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored”) (modern French bouée), ultimately from Frankish *baukn (“beacon”), from Proto-Germanic *baukną. Doublet of beacon. Alternatively, and perhaps less likely (due to the unexplained shift in meaning), from Middle Dutch boeye (“shackle, fetter”), from Old French buie (“fetter, chain”), from Latin boia (“a (leather) collar, band, fetter”), from Ancient Greek βόεος (bóeos), βόειος (bóeios, “of ox-hide”), from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”). Noun sense 2 was coined by American linguist Scott K. Lindell in 2003.

Derived words

anchor buoy bell buoy breeches buoy buoyage buoyancy buoyant buoylike buoy rope buoy tender cable buoy can buoy conical buoy dan buoy depicting buoy fragment buoy lifebuoy life buoy life-buoy light buoy list buoy mooring buoy nun buoy pointer buoy pull buoy ring buoy safety buoy sonobuoy spar buoy stream the buoy theme buoy whistling buoy buoy up upbuoy

Translations

Afrikaans: boei Albanian: bovë Arabic: شَمَنْدُورَة Arabic: عَوَّامَة Armenian: ծփան Asturian: boya Azerbaijani: şamandıra Basque: buia Belarusian: буй Bulgarian: шамандура Bulgarian: буй Catalan: boia Chinese Mandarin: 浮標 /浮标 Czech: bóje Danish: bøje Dutch: boei Esperanto: buo Esperanto: naĝobarelo Estonian: poi Finnish: poiju Finnish: reimari French: bouée French: flotteur French: balise Galician: boia Georgian: ტივტივა German: Boje German: Tonne Greek: σημαδούρα Hawaiian: poe Hebrew: מצוף Hungarian: bója Icelandic: bauja Icelandic: dufl Ido: boyo Ingrian: veha Ingrian: buju Irish: baoi Italian: boa Japanese: ブイ Japanese: 浮標 Korean: 부표 Korean: 부이 Latin: attollo Lithuanian: plūduras Lithuanian: buja Macedonian: пловка Malay: pelampung Norman: boule Norman: bondé Norwegian Bokmål: bøye Norwegian Nynorsk: bøye Persian: بویه
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