boy
/bɔɪ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.17 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A male human of any age, as opposed to a "girl" (female human of any age).
Countable; Derogatory; Informal; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Kieran plays football with other boys in his school."
- "The ſtretes of the cite alſo ſhalbe full of yonge boyes and damſelles, playnge vpon the ſtretes."
- "I find I was mistaken in the sex, it is a boy."
- "Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy?"
- ""He is not quite a baby, Alfred," said Ellen, "though he is only a big stupid boy. We have made him miserable enough. Let us leave him alone.""
- "Girls were offered baby dolls, princesses and sexy fashion figures; the boys section had superheroes, building blocks, science kits and dinosaurs."
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 Saterland Frisian Bouge (“boy”), 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 ("boy"; (< Germanic)). See also bully.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: boy//boye, *bōia, *bōjō, *bōjô, *bō-, *bʰā-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɔɪ/
- British English: /bɔɪ/