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Boy in Scrabble and Meaning

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What does boy mean? Is boy a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is boy worth? boy how many points in Words With Friends? What does boy mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for boy

See how to calculate how many points for boy.

Is boy a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word boy is a Scrabble US word. The word boy is worth 8 points in Scrabble:

B3O1Y4

Is boy a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word boy is a Scrabble UK word and has 8 points:

B3O1Y4

Is boy a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word boy is a Words With Friends word. The word boy is worth 8 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

B4O1Y3

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Valid words made from Boy

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3-letter words (2 found)

BOY,YOB,

2-letter words (5 found)

BO,BY,OB,OY,YO,

You can make 7 words from boy according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

All 3 letters words made out of boy

boy oby byo ybo oyb yob

Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word boy. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in boy.

Definitions and meaning of boy

boy

Etymology

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 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”). See also bully.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: boi, IPA(key): /bɔɪ/
  • (Southern American English) IPA(key): /bɔːə/
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪ

Noun

boy (countable and uncountable, plural boys)

  1. A young male human. [from 15th c.]
    • 1535, Bible (Coverdale), Zechariah, Chapter VIII, Verse 5:
      The stretes of the citie shalbe full of yonge boyes and damselles...
    • 1711 March 7, Jonathan Swift, Journal, line 208:
      I find I was mistaken in the sex, 'tis a boy.
    1. (particularly) A male child or adolescent, as distinguished from an infant or adult.
      • 1876, Frances Eliza Millett Notley, The Kiddle-a-Wink, "A Tale of Love", page 169:
        "He is not quite a baby, Alfred," said Ellen, "though he is only a big stupid boy. We have made him miserable enough. Let us leave him alone."
  2. (diminutive) A son of any age.
  3. (endearing, diminutive) A male human younger than the speaker. [from 17th c.]
  4. (obsolete) A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave. [14th–17th c.]
  5. (now rare and usually offensive outside some Commonwealth nations) A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, [from 14th c.] particularly:
    1. A younger such worker.
    2. (historical or offensive) A non-white male servant regardless of age, [from 17th c.] particularly as a form of address.
      • 1625, W. Hawkins in Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes, Vol. I, iii, vii, 211:
        My Boy Stephen Grauener.
    3. (obsolete) A male camp follower.
  6. (now offensive) Any non-white male, regardless of age. [from 19th c.]
    • 1812, Anne Plumptre translating Hinrich Lichtenstein, Travels in Southern Africa, in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806, Vol. I, i, viii, 119:
      A Hottentot... expects to be called by his name if addressed by any one who knows it; and by those to whom it is not known he expects to be called Hottentot... or boy.
  7. (informal, especially with a possessive) A male friend.
  8. (BDSM) A male submissive.
  9. A male non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male pet, especially a dog. [from 15th c.]
    C'mere, boy! Good boy! Who's a good boy?
    Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?
  10. (historical, military) A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.
  11. (US, slang, uncountable) Heroin. [from 20th c.]
  12. (somewhat childish) A male (tree, gene, etc).
    • 1970 [earlier 1963], Helen V. Wilson, Helen Van Pelt, Helen Van Pelt's African Violets, Dutton Adult (→ISBN):
      Of the 100 percent total, 25 will have two girl genes, 50 will have one boy and one girl gene, and 25 will have two boy genes.

Alternative forms

  • boi

Synonyms

  • (young male): See Thesaurus:boy
  • (diminutive term of address to males): chap, guy, lad, mate
  • (son): See son
  • (male servant): manservant
  • (disreputable man): brat, knave, squirt
  • (heroin): See Thesaurus:heroin

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of "young male"): See Thesaurus:girl

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Interjection

boy

  1. Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.

Related terms

  • oh boy

Translations

Verb

boy (third-person singular simple present boys, present participle boying, simple past and past participle boyed)

  1. (transitive) To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).

Coordinate terms

  • girl
  • man

References

  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

  • BYO, Y. O. B., Y.O.B., YOB, YoB, byo, oby, yob

Azerbaijani

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bod (“body, stature; self; kin, tribe, etc”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /boj/

Noun

boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)

  1. height, stature
    Boyum balacadır. ― I'm short. (literally, “My stature is little.”)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

  • “boy” in Obastan.com.

Cebuano

Etymology

From English boy.

Noun

boy

  1. houseboy, errand boy
    Synonyms: houseboy, muchacho, mutsatso

Chibcha

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /βoi/, /βoɨ/

Noun

boy

  1. Alternative form of boi

References

  • Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

Chinese

Etymology

From English boy.

Pronunciation

Noun

boy

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) The name of the Latin-script letter B.
  2. (Hong Kong Cantonese) office boy

See also

  • dog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy. Cognate with Middle Dutch boye (“young man, boy”), whence Dutch boi (“boy”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɔi̯/
  • Hyphenation: boy
  • Rhymes: -ɔi̯

Noun

boy m (plural boys, diminutive boytje n)

  1. (historical, now offensive) a male domestic servant, especially one with a darker skin in a colony
    Synonym: djongos (Indonesia)
  2. (informal) boy, young man
    Ik vind die Roy echt een rare boy. ― I think this Roy is really a strange young man.

Descendants

See also

  • guy

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɔj/

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

  1. (now historical, offensive) boy (non-white male servant)

Further reading

  • “boy”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈboj]
  • Hyphenation: boy
  • Rhymes: -oj
  • Homophone: boly

Noun

boy (plural boyok)

  1. A young male servant, low-position assistant.
    1. bellboy (in a hotel)
      Synonym: londiner
    2. office boy, errand boy, deliveryman
      Synonyms: kifutófiú, kézbesítő
  2. (dated) A male ballet dancer.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

  • görl

Further reading

  • boy in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)

Italian

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism. In the sense "bellboy", a clipping of English bellboy; in other meanings, a transferred sense of English boy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɔj/
  • Rhymes: -ɔj
  • Hyphenation: bòy

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

  1. a male ballet dancer
  2. bellboy (in a hotel)

References

Further reading

  • boy in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Ladino

Etymology

From Turkish boy (“stature, size”).

Noun

boy m (Latin spelling)

  1. size
  2. age

Middle English

Noun

boy (plural boys)

  1. Alternative spelling of boye

Polish

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from boy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɔj/
  • Rhymes: -ɔj
  • Syllabification: boy
  • Homophone: boj

Noun

boy m pers

  1. bellboy, office boy
    Synonym: garson

Declension

Further reading

  • boy in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • boy in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Ellipsis of office boy, from English office boy.

Alternative forms

  • bói

Pronunciation

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

  1. office boy
  2. (Brazil, slang) a young, upper-class male
Synonyms
  • (office boy): office boy
  • (rich young man): mauricinho

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

  1. Obsolete spelling of boi

Salar

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bȫg.

Pronunciation

  • (Jiezi, Gaizi, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA(key): [poiʲ], [pojɨ]
  • (Xunhua, Hualong, Qinghai, Yining, Xinjiang) IPA(key): /poj/

Noun

boy

  1. spider

References

  • Potanin, G.N. (1893) “boy”, in Тангутско-Тибетская окраина Китая и Центральная Монголия (in Russian)
  • Kakuk, S. (1962). “Un Vocabulaire Salar.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 14, no. 2: 173–96. [3]
  • Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “boy”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, pages 451-452
  • 林 (Lin), 莲云 (Lianyun) (1985) “boy”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar]‎[4], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 121
  • Ma, Chengjun, Han, Lianye, Ma, Weisheng (December 2010) “boy”, in 米娜瓦尔 艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, 撒维汉词典 (Sāwéihàncídiǎn) [Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary], 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 50
  • 马伟 (Ma Wei), 朝克 (Chao Ke) (2016) “boy”, in 濒危语言——撒拉语研究 [Endangered Languages ​​- Salar Language Studies], 青海 (Qinghai): 国家社会科学基金项目 (National Social Science Foundation Project), page 265

Spanish

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from boy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈboi/ [ˈboi̯]
  • Rhymes: -oi
  • Syllabification: boy

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

  1. a male stripper

Further reading

  • “boy”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Sranan Tongo

Noun

boy

  1. Alternative form of boi (official spelling)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈboj/, [ˈboɪ̯]

Noun

boy (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜌ᜔)

  1. (colloquial) errand boy; houseboy; boy doing a menial job (usually young)

Derived terms

Turkish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [boj]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Turkic *bod. See dialectal bodur (“stout, short”).

Noun

boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)

  1. stature
    Boyun ne kadar? ― How tall are you? (lit. "How much is your stature?")
  2. size
    küçük boy ― small size
Derived terms
  • boylu
  • boyluluk
  • boysuz
  • boysuzluk

Etymology 2

Noun

boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)

  1. tribe, clan
    eski Türk boyları tarihi ― history of ancient Turkish clans
Declension

Etymology 3

From Ottoman Turkish بوی (boy).

Noun

boy

  1. (only constructed with otu or tohumu) fenugreek
    Synonym: çemen

References

  • Clauson, Gerard (1972) “”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 384b
  • Eren, Hasan (1999) “boy”, in Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü [Etymological Dictionary of the Turkish Language] (in Turkish), Ankara: Bizim Büro Basım Evi, page 59a

Source: wiktionary.org