boy

[ boi ]

noun

1. a male child, from birth to full growth, especially one less than 18 years of age.
2. a young man who lacks maturity, judgment, etc.
3. Informal. a grown man, especially when referred to familiarly:

   He liked to play poker with the boys.

4. a son:

   Sam's oldest boy is helping him in the business.

5. a male who is from or native to a given place:

   He's a Mississippi boy.

6. boys, (used with a singular or plural verb)
   1. a range of sizes from 8 to 20 in garments made for boys.
   2. a garment in this size range.
   3. the department or section of a store where these garments are sold.
7. boys, military personnel, especially combat soldiers:

   Support the boys overseas.

8. Disparaging and Offensive. a term used to refer to or address a man considered by the speaker to be inferior in ethnicity, nationality, or occupational status.
9. a young male servant; page.
10. Offensive. (in India, China, Japan, etc.) a male servant, working as a butler, waiter, houseboy, etc.
11. Nautical. an apprentice seaman or fisherman.

interjection

1. an exclamation of wonder, approval, etc., or of displeasure or contempt.

boy

/ bɔɪ /

noun

1. a male child; lad; youth
2. a man regarded as immature or inexperienced

   he's just a boy when it comes to dealing with women

3. See old boy
   See old boy
4. informal.
   a group of men, esp a group of friends
5. derogatory.
   (esp in former colonial territories) a Black person or native male servant of any age
6. a jockey or apprentice
7. See boyfriend
   short for boyfriend
8. boys will be boys
   boys will be boys youthful indiscretion or exuberance must be expected and tolerated
9. jobs for the boys informal.
   jobs for the boys appointment of one's supporters to posts, without reference to their qualifications or ability
10. the boy informal.
    the boy the right tool for a particular task

    that's the boy to cut it

interjection

1. an exclamation of surprise, pleasure, contempt, etc

   boy, is he going to be sorry!

Sensitive Note

During the slavery and Jim Crow eras, white southerners would use the term boy to refer to or address a Black adult male, implying that Black people were inferior. In the meaning “native male servant,” boy was originally used in colonial territories and in the ports of China, Japan, etc., through which trade with foreign countries was permitted by special treaty.

Word History and Origins

Origin of boy¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English boy(e), perhaps after Old English Bōia a man's name; cognate with Frisian boi “young man”; akin to Old English bōfa, Old Norse bōfi, Old High German Buobo a man's name ( German Bube “knave” (dialectal “boy, lad”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of boy¹

C13 (in the sense: male servant; C14: young male): of uncertain origin; perhaps from Anglo-French abuié fettered (unattested), from Latin boia fetter

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with boys , also see fair-haired boy ; mama's boy ; separate the men from the boys ; whipping boy .

Example Sentences

There are several other reasons, including that oftentimes when there is an option of sending one child to school, families will send the boy.

From Fortune

When an imam refused to speak with a girl, she sent a boy from her organization in her place.

From Ozy

She didn’t mind that Charlie didn’t play sports as the other boys did.

From Washington Blade

Once, while volunteering in a first-grade classroom, I even accidentally kissed the wrong boy because the back of his head looked like my son’s.

From Voice of San Diego

His condition improved more lastingly only after his physician, Ogden Bruton, discovered that the boy had almost no gamma globulins in his blood.

From Quanta Magazine

In the 90s, it kept gay men out of leadership roles in the Boy Scouts of America.

From The Daily Beast

This is Bey and Nicki at their most lyrically masochistic, and boy, is it a treat.

From The Daily Beast

Interviews in Serial (including ones from Adnan) do acknowledge that Jay was known as a resident bad boy at Woodlawn High School.

From The Daily Beast

The former Virginia governor was once the golden boy of the GOP.

From The Daily Beast

A sepia photo shows him as a young boy, head in his hands, with a large book open at a bar table.

From The Daily Beast

A little boy of four was moved to passionate grief at the sight of a dead dog taken from a pond.

From Project Gutenberg

You see, I'd always thought of him as the boy whom Great-aunt Lucia described having seen.

From Project Gutenberg

Poor Squinty ran and tried to hide under the straw, for he knew the boy was talking about him.

From Project Gutenberg

A look of passion came into the face of the watching boy, and again he fingered his revolver.

From Project Gutenberg

Several times after this the boy and his sisters came to look down into the pig pen.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• child
• kid
• little one
• young one
• youngster
• youth

More About Boy

Where does the word boy come from?

Like girl, boy dates back to around 1250–1300. Also like the word girl, the ultimate origin of the word boy is obscure.

There are some clues to the roots of boy, however. It might be based on the Old English Bōia, a male given name. Furthermore, boy is related to the Frisian boi, “young man,” and the German Bube, “knave, boy, lad.” (Frisian, a language spoken in the northern Netherlands, is the Germanic language most closely related to English.) Interestingly, that German sense of “knave” is close in meaning to “male servant,” one of the earliest uses of boy. 

Boy isn’t alone: it finds lots of company in other English words that seem simple but whose origins are not. Discover more in our slideshow “‘Dog,’ ‘Boy,’ And Other Words That We Don’t Know Where They Came From.”

Did you know … ?

While boy usually means a male child, there are multiple instances where boy refers to a young adult or adult man. For instance, a boy band is often made up of young adult male performers, and a cowboy is a man that works on a ranch with cows. Adult men may also sometimes refer to his buddies as his boys or the boys. Parents will also frequently refer to their sons as their boys regardless of their age. Boy appears in countless expressions, from bad boy to boy oh boy!

Please note: calling Black adult men or other male members of minority groups boy is offensive. Read our Usage Note for more important context.