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goi

[goi]
noun, plural goy·im, gois.
  1. goy.

goy

or goi

[goi]
noun, plural goy·im [goi-im] /ˈgɔɪ ɪm/, goys. Usually Disparaging.
  1. a term used by a Jew to refer to someone who is not Jewish.
  2. 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. 2018

Examples from the Web for goyim

Contemporary Examples of goyim

Historical Examples of goyim

  • "It would make us undistinguishable from the goyim," answered Bensef.

    Rabbi and Priest

    Milton Goldsmith

  • Besides, these Goyim were trying to undermine the True Religion.

    Comrade Yetta

    Albert Edwards

  • The Goyim refuse us equal rights because they know we're their superiors.

    Ghetto Tragedies

    Israel Zangwill

  • The laws of the goyim against the children of Israel must be abolished.

    The History of a Lie

    Herman Bernstein

  • I suppose that he dropped the synagogue and Yom kippur, and became a Reformirter, and his children in due time Goyim.

    Legends of Florence

    Charles Godfrey Leland

British Dictionary definitions for goyim

goy

noun plural goyim (ˈɡɔɪɪm) or goys
  1. 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 goyim

plural of goy (q.v.).

goy

n.

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

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper