buoy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɔɪ/, /ˈbu.i/; /ˈbɔɪ/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English boye,^[2][3] probably borrowed from Middle Dutch boeye or Old French boie, buie,^{[4][2][5][3][6]} of disputed origin.^[5] One view derives these from a West Germanic word meaning “signal, beacon” (compare Old High German bouhhan “sign” and beacon).^[4][2][5][3] The OED and others derive it from Old French boie “fetter, chain”, from Latin boia, because a buoy is chained to a spot.^[5][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A float moored in water to mark the position of things under water or a channel (1296 in Barnhart; late 13th century in Etymonline).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

By 1466 a buoy could also be something to keep a person afloat, a life buoy.^[8] The verb meant first to mark with a buoy (1596),^[8][2][3] then to rise or float (1605, obsolete),^[8] and to keep afloat (1651).^[8][5] The figurative sense, to keep up or raise the spirits, hope or courage, appears even earlier, in the 1640s.^[5][8] These senses may have been influenced by Spanish boyar “to float”.^[2] Buoyant (1578) and buoyancy (1713) belong to the same group,^[2] and Hendrickson notes the irony that a word possibly meaning “chained” came to suggest lightness and freedom.^[7]

Timeline

• 1296 – boye, a float marking a spot in water.^[2]
• 1466 – a life buoy.^[8]
• 1578 – buoyant.^[2]
• 1596 – verb, to mark with a buoy.^[8][2][3]
• 1645 – verb, to keep up hope or spirits.^[8][5]
• 1651 – verb, to keep afloat.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A float, often carrying a bell or light, anchored in water to mark a channel or warn of danger, or to provide a mooring.
2. A life buoy.

Verb

1. To keep afloat or aloft (often with up).
2. To support or maintain at a high level, as an economy buoyed by growth.
3. To hearten or raise the spirits of.
4. To mark with or as if with a buoy.

Word family

• buoyage
• buoyancy
• buoyant
• sonobuoy
• anchor buoy
• bell buoy
• breeches buoy
• cable buoy

Related words

• beacon

Usage notes

The word is pronounced like boy in Britain and by many sailors, and also as “boo-ee” in America; it has no etymological connection with boy.^[7][1][3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press