different between boy vs mon

English

Alternative forms

• boi

Etymology

From Middle English boy, boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *b?ia (“boy”), from Proto-Germanic *b?jô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *b?- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *b??-, *b??t- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Middle Dutch boi, booi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name B?ia. Also related to West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”). See also bully.

Pronunciation

• enPR: boi, IPA^(key): /b??/
• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /b???/
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

boy (countable and uncountable, plural boys)

1. A young male. [from 15th c.]
   • 1440, Promptorium Parvulorum, 35:

     Bye or boye: Bostio.

   • 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.

   • 1812, Lord Byron, Childe Harold, Canto II, xxiii, 72:

     Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy?

   1. (particularly) A male child or teenager, as distinguished from infants or adults.
      • 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 male child: a son of any age.
3. (endearing, diminutive) A male of any age, particularly one rather 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.]
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene 4:

     Dost thou call me fool, boy?

5. (now rare and usually offensive outside some Commonwealth nations) A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, [from 14th c.] particularly:
   • c. 1300, King Horn, line 1075:

     þe boye hit scholde abugge; Horn þreu him ouer þe brigge.

   • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, i, 37:

     ‘Why does he go out and pinch all his dogs in person? He's an administrator, isn't he? Wouldn't he hire a boy or something?’
     ‘We call them “staff”,’ Roger replies.

   1. A younger such worker.
      • 1721, Penelope Aubin, The Life of Madam de Beaumount, ii, 36:

        I resolved to continue in the Cave, with my two Servants, my Maid, and a Boy, whom I had brought from France.

   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.

      • 1834, Edward Markham, New Zealand or Recollections of It, 72:

        They picked out two of the strongest of the Boys (as they call the Men) about the place.

      • 1876, Ebenezer Thorne, The Queen of the Colonies, or, Queensland as I Knew It, 58:

        The blacks who work on a station or farm are always, like the blacks in the Southern States, called boys.

      • 1907 May 13, N.Y. Evening Post, 6:

        [In Shanghai,] The register clerk assigns you to a room, and instead of ‘Front!’ he shouts ‘Boy!’

      • 1960 February 5, Northern Territory News, 5/5:

        Aborigine Wally... described himself as ‘number one boy’ at the station.

   3. (obsolete) A male camp follower.
      • 1572, John Sadler translating Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Foure Bookes... Contayninge a Plaine Forme, and Perfect Knowledge of Martiall Policye..., iii, vii:

        If any water be rough and boysterous, or the chanell verye broade, it manye times drowneth the carriages and the boyes and nowe and then slouthfull and lyther souldiours.

      • 1600, William Shakespeare, The Cronicle History of Henry the Fift..., Act IV, Scene vii, 1:

        Godes plud kil the boyes and the lugyge,
        Tis the arrants peece of knauery...

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.

   • 1888, Louis Diston Powles, Land of Pink Pearl, or Recollections of Life in the Bahamas, 66:

     Every darky, however old, is a boy.

   • 1973 September 8, Black Panther, 7/2:

     [In Alabama,] Guards still use the term ‘boy’ to refer to Black prisoners.

   • 1979, Bert Newton and Mohammed Ali, The Logie Awards:

     BN: [repeating a catchphrase] I like the boy.
     MA: [to hostile audience] Hold it, hold it, hold it. Easy. Did you say ‘Roy’ or ‘boy’?
     BN: ‘I like the boy’. There's nothing wrong with saying that... Hang on, hang on, hang on... I'll change religion, I'll do anything for ya, I don't bloody care... What's wrong with saying that? ‘I like the boy’?
     MA: Boy...
     BN: I mean, I like the man. I'm sorry, Muhammad.

7. A male animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male dog. [from 15th c.]

   C'mere, boy! Good boy! Who's a good boy?

   Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?

8. (historical, military) A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.
   • 1841 May 6, Times in London, 5/4:

     Wounded... 1 Boy, 1st class, severely.

   • 1963 April 30, Times in London, 16/2:

     He joined the Navy as a boy second class in 1898.

9. (US, slang, uncountable) Heroin. [from 20th c.]
10. (somewhat childish) A male (tree, gene, etc).
    • 1950, Pageant:

      Are there “boy” trees and “girl” trees? Yes. A number of species, among them the yew, holly and date-bearing palm, have their male and female flowers on different trees. The male holly, for instance, must be planted fairly close to the female ...

    • 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.

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

• (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. To use the word “boy” to refer to someone.

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

See also

• girl, man (antonyms in some senses)
• Appendix:English collective nouns

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

Declension

Derived terms

• boylu
• boya çatmaq

Cebuano

Etymology

From English boy.

Noun

boy

1. houseboy, errand boy

Synonyms

• (errand boy): houseboy, muchacho, mutsatso

Chibcha

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?oi/, /?o?/

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.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?i?/
• Hyphenation: boy
• Rhymes: -?i?

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
2. (informal) boy, young man

See also

• guy

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?j/

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

1. (now historical, offensive) boy (non-white male servant)
   • 1930, André Malraux, La Voie royale:

     Claude allait l'ouvrir mais le ton sur lequel le délégué appelait son boy lui fit lever la tête : l'auto attendait, bleue sous l'ampoule de la porte; le boy, qui s'était écarté – en voyant arriver le délégué sans doute – se rapprochait, hésitant.

Further reading

• “boy” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?boj]
• Hyphenation: boy
• Rhymes: -oj
• Homophone: boly

Noun

boy (plural boyok)

1. young male servant, low-position assistant
   1. bellboy (in a hotel)

      Synonym: londiner

   2. office boy, errand boy, deliveryman

      Synonyms: kifutófiú, kézbesít?

2. (dated) a male ballet dancer

Declension

Derived terms

• boyszolgálat

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 2021)

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English boy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?j/

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

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

Further reading

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

Ladino

Etymology

Borrowed from Turkish boy (“stature, size”).

Noun

boy m (Latin spelling)

1. size
2. age

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Shortening of office boy, from English office boy.

Alternative forms

• bói

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

Noun

boy m (plural boys)

1. Obsolete spelling of boi

Spanish

Noun

boy m (plural boyes)

1. male stripper

Sranan Tongo

Alternative forms

• boi (official spelling)

Etymology

From English boy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boi?/

Noun

boy

1. (unofficial spelling) boy

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [boj]

Etymology 1

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

Noun

boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)

1. stature

2. size

Derived terms

• boylu
• boyluluk
• boysuz
• boysuzluk

Etymology 2

Noun

boy (definite accusative boyu, plural boylar)

1. tribe, clan

Declension

Etymology 3

From Ottoman Turkish ???? (boy) constructed the same, from Proto-Oghuz, passed into it, Chagatai and Kipchak from Persian ???? (b?y, “smell”).

Noun

boy

1. (only constructed with otu or tohumu) fenugreek

   Synonym: çemen

References

• Clauson, Gerard (1972) An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 384b
• Eren, Hasan (1999) , “boy”, in Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlü?ü [Etymological Dictionary of the Turkish Language] (in Turkish), 2nd edition, Ankara: Bizim Büro Bas?m Evi, page 59a

Westrobothnian

Alternative forms

• bog

Etymology

From Old Norse bógr (“shoulder”), from Proto-Germanic *b?guz, from Proto-Indo-European *b????us.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu?y/

Noun

boy m (definite singular boyen)

1. shoulder (of an animal)

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From Japanese ? (mon). Cognate to wen, mun and van.

Noun

mon

1. The former currency of Japan until 1870, before the yen.
2. The badge or emblem of a Japanese family, especially a family of the ancient feudal nobility; typically circular and consists of conventionalized forms from nature.

Etymology 2

From a dialectal variant of man; compare Western Middle English mon (alongside Eastern man).

Noun

mon

1. (slang, used in the vocative) A colloquial means of address of man in places such as Jamaica and Shropshire in England.

See also

• (term of address for a man) mate (British, Australia), dude

Etymology 3

Clipping of monster, via Japanese ?? (mon) in Pokémon, Digimon, etc.

Noun

mon (plural mons)

1. (fandom slang) A creature in a video game, usually one which is captured, trained up and used in battles.
2. (fandom slang) A video game or anime in which catching and battling creatures is an important element.

Anagrams

• -nom, MNO, NMO, NOM, ONM, no'm, nom, nom-, nom.

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• mònn, moon

Etymology

From Middle High German man, from Old High German man, from Proto-Germanic *mann-. Cognate with German Mann, Dutch man, English man, Icelandic maður, Swedish man, Gothic ???????????????????? (manna).

Noun

mon

1. (Sauris) man
2. (Sauris) husband

References

• “mon” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan mon, from Vulgar Latin *mum, reduced form of Latin meus, meum, from Proto-Italic *meos. Compare Occitan and French mon.

In unstressed position in Vulgar Latin meum, meam etc. were monosyllabic and regularly became mon, ma etc. in Catalan. When stressed they were disyllabic and became meu, mia > meua etc.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /mun/ (always unstressed)
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /mon/ (always unstressed)

Determiner

mon m (feminine ma, masculine plural mos, feminine plural mes)

1. my

Usage notes

The use of mon and the other possessive determiners is mostly archaic in the majority of dialects, with articulated possessive pronouns (e.g. el meu) mostly being used in their stead. However, mon, ton, and son are still widely used before certain nouns referring to family members and some affective nouns, such as amic, casa, and vida. Which nouns actually find use with the possessive determiners depends greatly on the locale.

The standard masculine plural form is mos, but mons can be found in some dialects.

Descendants

• Sicilian: mo (South Easy of Sicily, nearby Ragusa)

See also

• meu

Further reading

• “mon” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Chinese

Etymology

From English monitor.

Pronunciation

Noun

mon

1. (Cantonese, hardware) monitor

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mon/, [?m?n]

Etymology 1

From the (now obsolete) present of the modal verb monne (“may, might”), via a false interpretation of sentences like hvor mon han bo? (“where may he live?”) as hvor mon han bor? (“where, I wonder, does he live?”).

Adverb

mon

1. I wonder

Usage notes

The adverb is only used in direct or indirect questions. It is usually located in the second place in the sentence, i.e. where one would expect to find the finite verb (cf. the etymology). The finite, on the other hand, is placed in the second part of the sentence, where one would expect to find an infinitive.

Synonyms

• monstro

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

mon

1. (obsolete) present tense singular of monne

French

Etymology

From Middle French mon, from Old French mun, mon, meon, from Vulgar Latin, Late Latin mum, a reduced variant of Latin meum, accusative masculine and neuter singular of meus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m??/

Determiner

mon m (singular)

1. (possessive) my (used to qualify masculine nouns and vowel-initial words regardless of gender).

2. Followed by rank, obligatory way of addressing a (male) superior officer within the military. (Folk etymology: military-specific short for "monsieur".)

Derived terms

• mondit

Related terms

¹ Also used before feminine adjectives and nouns beginning with a vowel or mute h.

² Also used as the polite singular form.

Further reading

• “mon” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• nom

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

From Portuguese mão. Cognate with Kabuverdianu mon.

Noun

mon

1. hand

Japanese

Romanization

mon

1. R?maji transcription of ??

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese mão.

Noun

mon

1. hand

Kalasha

Noun

mon

1. a language

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann-, from Proto-Indo-European *mon-.

Alternative forms

• man, manne, monne, mæn

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?n/, /man/

Noun

mon (plural men)

2. man (male human)
3. human, person

Synonyms

• (man): gome, wer
• (person): persoun

Related terms

• frendman
• foman
• lege man
• manful
• manrede

Descendants

• Scots: man
• English: man
  • Tok Pisin: man
  • ? Chinese: man
  • ? Chinook Jargon: man
  • ? Korean: ? (maen)
  • ? Spanish: man
  • ? Thai: ??? (m??n)
  • ? Volapük: man
• English: -man
  • Sranan Tongo: -man
  • ? French: -man
  • ? Japanese: ?? (-man)
  • ? Welsh: -mon
• Yola: man

Etymology 2

Pronoun

mon

1. Alternative form of man (“one, you”)

Etymology 3

Noun

mon

1. Alternative form of mone (“moon”)

Etymology 4

Verb

mon

1. Alternative form of mone (“shall”)

Etymology 5

Verb

mon

1. Alternative form of monen (“to remember”)

Etymology 6

Verb

mon

1. Alternative form of monen (“to lament”)

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /?mon/

Pronoun

mon

1. nominative of mun

Occitan

Alternative forms

• moun (Mistralian)

Etymology

From Old Occitan mon, from Vulgar Latin mum, a reduced variant of Latin meum.

Determiner

mon m sg (feminine singular ma, masculine plural mos, feminine plural mas)

1. my

   Synonyms: meu, mieu

References

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2016, page 389.

Old French

Alternative forms

• moun (Anglo-Norman)
• mun (Anglo-Norman)
• meon (very early Old French; Oaths of Strasbourg)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin, Late Latin mum, a reduced variant of Latin meum, nominative neuter singular of meus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mun/
• Rhymes: -on

Determiner

mon m (feminine ma, plural mes)

1. my (first-person singular possessive)

Descendants

• French: mon

Old Occitan

Etymology 1

From Vulgar Latin, Late Latin mum, a reduced variant of Latin meum, nominative neuter singular of meus.

Alternative forms

• mo

Adjective

mon m (feminine ma)

1. my (belonging to me)

Descendants

• Catalan: mon
• Occitan: mon

Etymology 2

From Latin mundus.

Noun

mon m (oblique plural mons, nominative singular mons, nominative plural mon)

1. world

Descendants

• Catalan: món
• Occitan: mond

Scots

Noun

mon

1. man

Skolt Sami

Etymology

From Proto-Samic *monë.

Pronoun

mon

1. I

Further reading

• Koponen, Eino; Ruppel, Klaas; Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002-2008) Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages?^[8], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Swedish

Noun

mon

1. definite singular of mo

Tok Pisin

Noun

mon

1. tree that bears fruit or nuts

Volapük

Noun

mon (uncountable mons)

1. money

Declension