cowboy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkaʊˌbɔɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is from English cow + boy.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A boy who tends cows and drives them between the farm and the pasture: 1725 in Etymonline;^[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1623.^[3]

Semantic evolution

During the American Revolution it was an insulting name for bands of marauding Loyalists near New York (1775), who rustled cattle.^[2][4] The American sense, a man who tends cattle on horseback on a ranch, is by 1849.^[2][4] Figuratively, a brash and reckless young man is by 1942, and the adjective, reckless, from the 1920s;^[2] Hollywood westerns helped spread the sense of any reckless person, as a speeding driver.^[4] Cowboys and Indians as a children's game is by 1920.^[2] The oldest word for the occupation is cowherd, from late Old English, and cowhand is from 1852.^[2]

Timeline

• 1623 – cowboy (Merriam-Webster).^[3]
• 1725 – a boy who tends cows.^[2]
• 1775 – a Loyalist raider.^[2]
• 1849 – a ranch hand on horseback.^[2]
• 1942 – a reckless young man.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A man who tends cattle on a ranch, doing his work on horseback, especially in the western United States.
2. An adventurous hero, as in westerns.
3. (informal) A reckless or unscrupulous person, as a driver, pilot or tradesman who ignores risks.

Word family

• cowboy boot
• cowboys and Indians
• drugstore cowboy

Related words

• cowman
• cowherd
• cowhand
• cowpoke
• cowgirl
• rancher

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File