In 1884, Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, demonstrated the first working example of an espresso machine.
BOY
boy
(noun) a friendly informal reference to a grown man; “he likes to play golf with the boys”
son, boy
(noun) a male human offspring; “their son became a famous judge”; “his boy is taller than he is”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
boy (countable and uncountable, plural boys)
A young male. [from 15th c.]
(particularly) A male child or teenager, as distinguished from infants or adults.
(diminutive) A male child: a son of any age.
(affectionate, diminutive) A male of any age, particularly one rather younger than the speaker. [from 17th c.]
(obsolete) A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave. [14th-17th c.]
(now, rare and usually, offensive outside some Commonwealth nations) A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, [from 14th c.] particularly:
A younger such worker.
(historical or offensive) A non-white male servant regardless of age, [from 17th c.] particularly as a form of address.
(obsolete) A male camp follower.
(now, offensive) Any non-white male, regardless of age. [from 19th c.]
A male animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male dog. [from 15th c.]
(historical, military) A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.
(US, slang, uncountable) Heroin. [from 20th c.]
(somewhat, childish) A male (tree, gene, etc).
Synonyms
• (young male): See boy
• (diminutive term of address to males): chap, guy, lad, mate
• (son): See son
• (male servant): manservant
• (disreputable man): brat, knave, squirt
• (heroin): See heroin
Antonyms
• (young male): See girl
Interjection
boy
Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
Verb
boy (third-person singular simple present boys, present participle boying, simple past and past participle boyed)
To use the word “boy” to refer to someone.
(transitive) To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).
Anagrams
• BYO, Y. O. B., Y.O.B., YOB, YoB, byo, oby, yob
Source: Wiktionary
Boy, n. Etym: [Cf. D. boef, Fries. boi, boy; akin to G. bube, Icel. bofi rouge.]
Definition: A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; a lad; hence, a son. My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee. Sir W. Scott.
Note: Boy is often used as a term of comradeship, as in college, or in the army or navy. In the plural used colloquially of members of an assosiaton, fraternity, or party. Boy bishop, a boy (usually a chorister) elected bishop, in old Christian sports, and invested with robes and other insignia. He practiced a kind of mimicry of the ceremonies in which the bishop usually officiated. The Old Boy, the Devil. [Slang] -- Yellow boys, guineas. [Slang, Eng.] -- Boy's love, a popular English name of Southernwood (Artemisia abrotonum);) -- called also lad's love.
– Boy's play, childish amusements; anything trifling.
Boy, v. t.
Definition: To act as a boy; -- in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage. I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
3 March 2025
STAND
(verb) hold one’s ground; maintain a position; be steadfast or upright; “I am standing my ground and won’t give in!”
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