goi

[ goi ]

/ gɔɪ /

noun, plural goy·im, gois.

goy.

Nearby words

goglet, gogo, gogol, gogra, gohonzon, goi, goidel, goidelic, going, going for one, going my way

Definition for goi (2 of 2)

goy

or goi

[ goi ]

/ gɔɪ /

noun, plural goy·im [goi-im] /ˈgɔɪ ɪm/, goys. Usually Disparaging.

a term used by a Jew to refer to someone who is not Jewish.

a term used by an observant Jew to refer to a Jew who is not religious or is ignorant of Judaism.

Origin of goy

1835–45; < Yiddish < Hebrew goi nation, non-Jew, Jew ignorant of the Jewish religion

Related formsgoy·ish, adjective

Usage note

Use of this term usually implies a contempt for non-Jews as being different from or even inferior to Jews: Only a goy would use such faulty logic. goy is rarely used in a neutral, descriptive way as a synonym for gentile , though that is its meaning in Yiddish and Hebrew. In another usually disparaging usage, goy is applied to a Jew who is not observant.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for goi

Consistent with the Mitchell Report, GOI freezes all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements).
The U.N. Settlement Report: Just The Facts|Emily L. Hauser|February 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Mrs. Merideth, who heard, could only wring her hands and moan again: I cant have them goI cant have them go!
The Turn of the Tide|Eleanor H. Porter
The stuff he was goin'to buy for you is here in the baggage-room, 'cause he said so, an' we'll see him before long.
The Adventures of a Country Boy at a Country Fair|James Otis
I was goin't thru the woods one day, and come up sudden in a clear patch of ground.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States|Work Projects Administration

"Mebbe I'm goin'to be Premier of Canada, some day," said one youngster, poking his bare toes as near as he dared to the flames.
The Black-Bearded Barbarian (George Leslie Mackay)|Mary Esther Miller MacGregor, AKA Marion Keith
A day or two now, and one of us may goI care not which it be, for the other will not be long in tarrying.
Within the Capes|Howard Pyle

British Dictionary definitions for goi

goy

/ (ɡɔɪ) /

noun plural goyim (ˈɡɔɪɪm) or goys

a Jewish word for a gentile

Derived Formsgoyish, adjective

Word Origin for goy

from Yiddish, from Hebrew goi people

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for goi

goy

"gentile, non-Jew" (plural goyim), 1835, from Hebrew goy "people, nation;" in Mishnaic and Modern Hebrew, also "gentile."