boy.
A male child.
Meaning & usage
A male child.
Kieran plays football with other boys in his school.
A young man.
Kate is dating a boy named Jim.
A son of any age.
A male human younger than the speaker.
A male human of any age, as opposed to a "girl" (female human of any age).
boys' club
A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave.
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, particularly
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee A younger such worker.
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee A non-white male servant regardless of age, particularly as a form of address.
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee A male camp follower.
Any non-white male, regardless of age.
A male friend.
hanging with my boys
A male submissive.
A male non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male pet, especially a dog.
C'mere, boy! Good boy! Who's a good boy?
Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?
A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.
Heroin.
A male (tree, gene, etc).
Any tangible object close to one's person; often used in emphatic forms such as bad boy.
This boy can really kick!
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Proto-West Germanic *bōjō Old English *bōia Middle English boye English boy From Middle English boy /boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, from Proto-Germanic *bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Dutch boi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to Saterland Frisian Bouge (“boy”), West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), Bavarian Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”), Lombard bagaj ("boy"; (< Germanic)). See also bully.
Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
Boy, that was close!
Boy, that tastes good!
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Proto-West Germanic *bōjō Old English *bōia Middle English boye English boy From Middle English boy /boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, from Proto-Germanic *bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Dutch boi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to Saterland Frisian Bouge (“boy”), West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), Bavarian Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”), Lombard bagaj ("boy"; (< Germanic)). See also bully.
To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Proto-West Germanic *bōjō Old English *bōia Middle English boye English boy From Middle English boy /boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, from Proto-Germanic *bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Dutch boi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to Saterland Frisian Bouge (“boy”), West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), Bavarian Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”), Lombard bagaj ("boy"; (< Germanic)). See also bully.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.