different between shopkeeper vs boss

English

Alternative forms

• shop keeper

Etymology

shop +? keeper

Pronunciation

Noun

shopkeeper (plural shopkeepers)

1. A trader who sells goods in a shop, or by retail, in distinction from one who sells by wholesale, or sells door to door.

Synonyms

• storekeeper

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation): IPA^(key): /b?s/
• (General American): IPA^(key): /b?s/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada): IPA^(key): /b?s/
• Rhymes: -?s, -??s

Etymology 1

From Dutch baas, from Middle Dutch baes (“master of a household, friend”), from Old Dutch *baso (“uncle, kinsman”), from Proto-Germanic *baswô, masculine form of Proto-Germanic *basw? (“father's sister, aunt, cousin”). Cognate with Middle Low German b?s (“supervisor, foreman”), Old Frisian bas (“master”), hence Saterland Frisian Boas (“boss”), Old High German basa (“father's sister, cousin”), hence German Base (“aunt, cousin”).

Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative. Later, in New Amsterdam, it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master. The representation of Dutch -aa- by English -o- is due to the older unrounded pronunciation of this letter, which is still used in North America and parts of Ireland, but was formerly found in some British accents as well.

The video game sense is borrowed from Japanese ?? (bosu).

Noun

boss (plural bosses)

1. A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
   • February 18, 2018, Dawn Pine, Strategies for Dealing with a Bad Boss

     we have some vindictive people as bosses, and you don’t want to be the target of their wrath.

2. A person in charge of a business or company.

   Synonym: employer

3. A leader, the head of an organized group or team.

   Synonyms: head, leader

4. The head of a political party in a given region or district.

   Synonym: leader

5. (informal, especially India and MLE) A term of address to a man.

7. (video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.

   Synonym: guardian

8. (humorous) Wife.

Synonyms

• (person who oversees and directs the work of others): line manager, manager, supervisor
• (informal: term of address to a man): gov/guv (UK), guvnor (UK), mate (UK)
• See also Thesaurus:boss

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ?? (bosu)
• ? Indonesian: bos

Translations

Verb

boss (third-person singular simple present bosses, present participle bossing, simple past and past participle bossed)

1. (transitive) To exercise authoritative control over; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.

   Synonyms: lord over, boss around

   • 1931, Robert L. May, Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Montgomery Ward (publisher):

     By YOU last night’s journey was actually bossed / Without you, I’m certain, we’d all have been lost.

   • 1932, Lorine Pruette, The Parent and the Happy Child, page 76

     His sisters bossed him and spoiled him. All their lives he was to go on being their little brother, who could do no wrong, because he was the baby; [...]

   • 1967, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, The purloined paperweight, page 90

     She bossed him, and he's never gotten over it. She still orders him around, and instead of telling her to go soak her head, he just says 'Yes, ma'am' as weak as a newborn jellyfish [...]

   • 1980, Jean Toomer The wayward and the seeking: a collection of writings by Jean Toomer, page 40

     For if, on the one hand, I bossed him and showed him what to do and how to do it, [...]

Derived terms

• boss about, boss around, overboss

Translations

Adjective

boss (not comparable)

1. (slang, US, Canada, Liverpudlian) Of excellent quality, first-rate.

Etymology 2

From Middle English bos, bose, boce, from Old French boce (“lump, bulge, protuberance, knot”), from Frankish *bottja, from Proto-Germanic *bautan? (“to hit, strike, beat”). Doublet of beat; see there for more.

Noun

boss (plural bosses)

1. A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object.
2. (geology) A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock.
3. A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
4. (mechanics) A protrusion, frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.
   • 1985, Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, chapter IV

     The seargent ... screwing a bipod into the threaded boss on the underside of the barrel would kill these animals ...

5. (architecture) A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
6. (archery) A target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached.
7. A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gwilt to this entry?)

8. A head or reservoir of water.

Derived terms

• bosslike
• emboss

Translations

Verb

boss (third-person singular simple present bosses, present participle bossing, simple past and past participle bossed)

1. (transitive) To decorate with bosses; to emboss.

Etymology 3

Apparently a corruption of bass.

Noun

boss (plural bosses)

1. (obsolete) A hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.
   • 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, 36:

     All were waiting : uncle Charles, who sat far away in the shadow of the window, Dante and Mr Casey, who sat in the easy chairs at either side of the hearth, Stephen, seated on a chair between them, his feet resting on a toasting boss.

Synonyms

• (hassock or footrest): footrest, hassock

Translations

Anagrams

• BSOs, SOBs, sobs

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English boss.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?s/

Noun

boss m or f (plural boss or bosses)

1. boss (leader)

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English boss.

Noun

boss m (invariable)

1. boss (leader of a business, company or criminal organization)

   Synonym: capo

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• bøss

Noun

boss n (definite singular bosset, uncountable)

1. garbage, rubbish, trash (leftover waste to be discarded)

Usage notes

Used mainly in the Bergen region.

Etymology 2

Noun

boss m (definite singular bossen, indefinite plural bosser, definite plural bossene)

1. (colloquial) boss, supervisor (someone who oversees work)
2. boss (final enemy in a video game)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?s?/ (example of pronunciation)

Noun

boss n (definite singular bosset, uncountable)

1. alternative form of bos

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English boss.

Noun

boss c

1. (video games) boss; final enemy
2. (colloquial) boss, supervisor; someone who oversees work

   Synonym: chef

Declension

Tagalog

Etymology

From English boss.

Noun

boss

1. (colloquial, slang, informal) A male term of address.
2. (colloquial, slang, informal) boss

Derived terms

• bosing