cowboy
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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
- A man who tends cattle on a ranch, doing his work on horseback, especially in the western United States.
- An adventurous hero, as in westerns.
- (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
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File