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Boy

//bɔɪ// adj, intj, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Initialism of beginning of year. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, not-comparable
"Coordinate term: EOY"

Intj

1
Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
"Boy, that was close!"

Noun

1
A male child. countable, uncountable
"Kieran plays football with other boys in his school."
2
a friendly informal reference to a grown man wordnet
3
A young man. countable, uncountable
"Kate is dating a boy named Jim."
4
a youthful male person wordnet
5
A son of any age. countable, diminutive, especially, uncountable
"Low as that tide has ebbed with me, / It still reflects to memory’s eye / The hour, my brave, my only boy, / Fell by the side of great Dundee."

Show 17 more definitions

6
a male human offspring wordnet
7
A male human younger than the speaker. countable, diminutive, endearing, uncountable
8
(ethnic slur) offensive and disparaging term for Black man wordnet
9
A male human of any age, as opposed to a "girl" (female human of any age). countable, derogatory, informal, mildly, sometimes, uncountable
"boys' club"
10
A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Do’ſt thou call mee foole boy?"
11
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, particularly countable, uncountable
"He allowed his ‘boy’ - an overfed young negro from the coast - to treat the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence."
12
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee; A younger such worker. countable, uncountable
"I resolved to continue in the Cave, with my two Servants, my Maid, and a Boy, whom I had brought from France."
13
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee; A non-white male servant regardless of age, particularly as a form of address. countable, historical, offensive, uncountable
"My Boy Stephen Grauener."
14
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee; A male camp follower. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"If any water be rough and boysterous, or the chanell verye broade, it manye times drowneth the carriages and the boyes and nowe and then slouthfull and lyther souldiours."
15
Any non-white male, regardless of age. countable, offensive, uncountable
"A Hottentot... expects to be called by his name if addressed by any one who knows it; and by those to whom it is not known he expects to be called Hottentot... or boy."
16
A male friend. countable, especially, informal, uncountable
"The next thing I remember, I am walking down the street / I'm feeling all right, I'm with my boys, I'm with my troops, yeah."
17
A male submissive. countable, uncountable
18
A male non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male pet, especially a dog. countable, uncountable
"C'mere, boy! Good boy! Who's a good boy?"
19
A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank. countable, historical, uncountable
"Wounded... 1 Boy, 1st class, severely."
20
Heroin. US, slang, uncountable
"[…] drove by a corner, saw what I thought—no, what I knew—were dealers and asked if they knew where I could get some boy."
21
A male (tree, gene, etc). childish, countable, uncountable
"Are there “boy” trees and “girl” trees? Yes. A number of species, among them the yew, holly and date-bearing palm, have their male and female flowers on different trees. The male holly, for instance, must be planted fairly close to the female ..."
22
Any tangible object close to one's person; often used in emphatic forms such as bad boy. colloquial, countable, endearing, uncountable
"This boy can really kick!"

Verb

1
To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage). transitive
"I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

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Boy

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