toy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɔɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English toye, of unknown or uncertain origin.^[2][3][4][5] Middle Dutch toi (Dutch tooi) “attire, finery” agrees in form but not in sense.^[6][5] Barnhart and Etymonline suggest that the modern sense, a plaything, may instead come from Dutch tuig (“tools, apparatus, stuff, trash”), as in speeltuig (“plaything”),^[2][5] which is cognate with German Zeug (“stuff”) and Spielzeug (“plaything, toy”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Amorous sport or dalliance: 1303, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[7][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word was used broadly, often of abstract things: antics and tricks, a trifling speech or frivolous piece of writing, a lively tune, a whim, an unreasonable dislike.^[5][7] Word Origins describes it as first a funny story or remark, then a prank or frivolous entertainment.^[8][4] The narrowing ran through the idea of an object meant for amusement rather than serious use:^[5] a piece of fun about 1500,^[5][2] a thing of little value, a trifle, in 1530 in Palsgrave,^[2] and a plaything for children before 1586 in Sidney's Arcadia, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[2][5] A small article is in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew (1596).^[2] As an adjective of small things, especially very small dogs, it is from 1806, in the journals of Lewis and Clark.^[2][5] The verb, to trifle or play, is from before 1529 in Skelton,^[2][7] often of amorous dallying in the 16th century,^[5] and to toy with, to handle idly, is by 1832.^[5] Toy boy, a young male lover of an older woman, is from the 1980s.^[8]

Timeline

• 1303 – amorous sport.^[7][2]
• c. 1500 – a piece of fun.^[5][2]
• before 1529 – the verb, to trifle.^[2]
• 1530 – a trifle.^[2]
• 1580s – a plaything for children.^[5][2]
• 1806 – a toy dog.^[2][5]
• 1980s – toy boy.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An object for children to play with.
2. Something of little importance; a trifle.
3. A small ornament; a bauble.
4. A dog of a very small breed.

Verb

1. (toy with) To amuse oneself idly with; to play with something or someone without seriousness.
2. (toy with) To consider an idea casually.

Word family

• toylike
• toyer
• toyless
• toymaker
• toyshop
• boy toy
• English toy spaniel
• toy dog

Related words

• toy boy
• boy
• trifle

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press