boy English · revision 2557

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=1154 (as a name), c. 1225 (servant)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɔɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|boi]] (also [[m|enm|boie]]), a word of unknown or uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004)^(Cresswell 2021) Several explanations have been proposed.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is compared with East Frisian boi, “young gentleman”, with [[dum|boeve|t=knave]] and Middle High German [[m|gmh|buobe|t=boy]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(MWU 2024) and with the Old English personal names [[m|ang|Bōia]] and [[m|ang|Bōfa]],^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) which Klein and Etymonline put in a gradational relationship with [[babe]].^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) Hoad and Barnhart suggest instead an Anglo-French [[m|xno|*embuié|t=fettered]], from Old French [[m|fro|embuier|t=to fetter]], from [[la|boia|t=leg iron, yoke]], from Greek [[m|grc|βοεῖαι|tr=boeîai|t=ox hides]], which would explain the sense “servant”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) According to Liberman, modern ''boy'' looks like a blend of an onomatopoeic word for an evil spirit, “boi”, and a baby word for “brother”, “bo”.^(Liberman 2008)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A male servant: about 1225, in ''King Horn'';^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart records ''boi'' and ''boie'' in 1154.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline gives “servant, commoner, knave” from the mid-13th century,^(Etymonline) and Liberman dates the word to 1260.^(Liberman 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Rascal, ruffian, urchin” is from about 1300.^(Etymonline) A male child is recorded from about 1300 in the OED^(OED 1989) and the mid-14th century in Etymonline, perhaps extended from the sense “urchin”;^(Etymonline) Liberman notes that in texts this meaning does not appear before 1400.^(Liberman 2008) Etymonline points out that words for “boy” often double as “servant” across the Indo-European languages, as with French ''garçon'' and Greek ''pais''.^(Etymonline) Liberman thinks the derogatory senses of Middle English ''boy'' go back to ''*boi'', “devil”, and that ''boy'' “servant” survives in compounds such as ''bellboy''.^(Liberman 2008) The word was used slightingly of young men in Middle English, and locally, in Cornwall, Ireland and the American West, for “a man” of any age.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''That's my boy'' is from the late 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The derogatory use for a non-white male servant or labourer is from the 17th century onward.^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) The interjection ''boy!'' expresses surprise or delight.^(AHD) ''Boyish'' is from 1548 and ''boyhood'' from before 1745, in Swift.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1154 – ''boi'' (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1225 – a servant (''King Horn'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – a rascal; a male child.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1548 – ''boyish''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 16th century – ''that's my boy''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1730 – “a man”, in some localities.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1745 – ''boyhood'' (Swift).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A male child or youth.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # An inexperienced young man.^(AHD)

+ # A son.^(AHD)

+ # ''(informal)'' A man; a fellow: ''one of the boys''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A male servant.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # Used to express surprise, delight or disgust.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[boyhood]]

+ * [[boyish]]

+ * [[boyishly]]

+ * [[boyishness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[babe]]

+ * [[baby]]

+ * [[boyfriend]]

+ * [[bellboy]]

+ * [[attaboy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate obsolete ''boy'', “a fetter”, is recorded from 1375.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}