Four Palestinian boys on the West Bank.

A boy is a young male (usually child or adolescent), as contrasted to its female counterpart, girl; thus in the wide sense of both terms all mankind, and in the strictest sense youth, consists of 'boys and girls'. Look up boy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Lads are a New Zealand punk/rock group that was formed in 1993. ... Boyhood can refer to: The childhood of a male human Boyhood (film) Boyhood (novel) Category: ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3008x2000, 3527 KB) Description: Masha, West Bank. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3008x2000, 3527 KB) Description: Masha, West Bank. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... For other uses, see Child (disambiguation). ... Teen redirects here. ... For other uses, see Female (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Girl (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Youth (disambiguation) Youth is defined by Websters New World Dictionary as, The time of life when one is young; especially: a: the period between childhood and maturity b: the early period of existence, growth, or development. ...

The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both. The latter most commonly applies to adult men, either considered in some way immature or inferior, in a position associated with aspects of boyhood, or even without such boyish connotation as age-indiscriminate synonym. The term can be joined with a variety of other words to form these gender-related labels as compound words. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ...

Ongoing debates about the influences of nature versus nurture in shaping the behavior of girls and boys raises questions about whether the roles played by boys are mainly the result of inborn differences or of socialization. Images of boys in art, literature and popular culture often demonstrate assumptions about gender roles. The nature versus nurture debates concern the relative importance of an individuals innate qualities (nature) versus personal experiences (nurture) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. ... A bagpiper in military uniform. ...

Nicaraguan farming boy.

Image File history File links NICARAGUAN_FARMING_BOY.jpg‎ Summary Author: Jorge Solorzano (Wikipedia ID: Granada) Location: Matagalpa, Nicaragua Autor Origin: Madrid, Spain Source: My pics archives Date: 23/02/1995 Adress: Granada, Nicaragua, Central America Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links NICARAGUAN_FARMING_BOY.jpg‎ Summary Author: Jorge Solorzano (Wikipedia ID: Granada) Location: Matagalpa, Nicaragua Autor Origin: Madrid, Spain Source: My pics archives Date: 23/02/1995 Adress: Granada, Nicaragua, Central America Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...

Etymology

The word "boy" is recorded since 1154. Its etymology is unclear; it is probably related to East Frisian boi, Old Norse bófi, Dutch boef "(criminal) knave, rogue" and German Bube. Etymologies redirects here. ... Categories: Language stubs | Frisian language ... Old Norse is the Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. ...

Scope

An adult male human is a man, but when age is not a crucial factor, both terms can be interchangeable, e.g., 'boys and their toys' applies equally to adults and young boys, just as 'Are you mice or men?' can also apply to young boys. Photograph of a nude man by Wilhelm von Gloeden, ca. ...

Japanese boys wearing fundoshi at a festival.

The age boundary is not clear cut, rather dependent on the context or even on individual circumstances. A young man who has not assumed (or has been denied) the traditional roles of a man might also be called a boy. It may feel uncomfortable to a young male upon being referred to as a "man" before he believes he has assumed these roles, such as having a career, a partner, a household of his own, fatherhood. Conversely, it may feel uncomfortable to a male to be called a "boy" if he believes he has assumed the traditional roles of a "man". In mother's/mama's boy, the word emphatically implies a male (minor or adult in years) who is too immature to be independent. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 787 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Fundoshi Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 787 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Fundoshi Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... The fundoshi (褌) is a traditional Japanese male loincloth, made from a strip of cotton cloth, one shaku (traditional Japanese foot, 35 cm = 14 inches) wide and about 2. ... In law, the term minor (also infant or infancy) is used to refer to a person who is under the age in which one legally assumes adulthood and is legally granted rights afforded to adults in society. ...

In some traditions boyhood is held to be exchanged for adult manhood, or at least approach it significantly, by certain -in se independent- acts assuming a role deemed to be typical for a "normal" man (though there are limits) as marriage, fathering offspring or military service. Various cultural and/or religious rites of passage serve, partially or specifically, to mark the transition to manhood. A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a persons social or sexual status. ...

Boys skinny dipping on a public place in India.

There is often a number of traditional differences in attire between boys and adult men, which may even give rise to a metaphoric term such as broekvent in Dutch (i.e., a boy who has not yet "graduated" from shorts to trousers) and in what is socially accepted as appropriate behaviour, e.g., boys may be publicly seen naked in cultures where men are not. Image File history File linksMetadata Kids_skinny_dipping_in_India. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Kids_skinny_dipping_in_India. ... Skinny dipping, or skinny-dipping is swimming naked. ... Look up Naked in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In English, the words youth, teenager and adolescent may refer to either male or female. No gender-specific term exists for an intermediate stage between a boy and a man, except "young man", although the term puberty, for one who reached sexual reproductivity (or the legally assumed age, e.g. 14 for boys, often set lower for girls) without being a legal adult yet, stems from a Latin word for boys only, itself named after the accompanying male body hair, pubes, on face and genital region. For other uses, see Youth (disambiguation) Youth is defined by Websters New World Dictionary as, The time of life when one is young; especially: a: the period between childhood and maturity b: the early period of existence, growth, or development. ... “Young Men” redirects here. ... Teen redirects here. ... Puberty refers to the process of physical changes by which a childs body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction. ...

Many occasions occur when an adult male is commonly referred to as a boy. A person's boyfriend or loverboy may be of any age; this even applies to a 'working' call-boy, toyboy (though usually younger than the client as youth is generally considered attractive). Reflecting the general aesthetic preference for youth, one says pretty boy (e.g. in the nickname of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, who committed his first bank robbery at age 30) or Adonis (name of a mythological youth) even when a male beauty is clearly of riper age. In terms (used pejoratively or neutrally) for homosexuals such as batty boy (alongside "batty man"; from "bottom") or "bum boy", age is not essential, but the connotation of immaturity can strengthen insulting use. A boyfriend is a male partner in a non-marital romantic relationship, or a male friend. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ... Charles Arthur Pretty Boy Floyd. ... In Greek mythology Adonis (Greek: , also: Άδωνις) is an archetypal life-death-rebirth deity of Semitic origin, and a central cult figure in various mystery religions. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... Batty boy, battyman, pariss, chi chi man and chiefe are sexual slurs used in Jamaica, Belize, Guyana and the rest of the Anglophone Caribbean to describe gay men. ...

A man's group of male friends etc. engaged in Male bonding are often called "the boys". It is most common to refer to men, irrespective of age or even in an adult age group, as boys in the context of a team (especially all-male), such as old boys for networking of adult men who attended the same school(s) as boys, or as professional colleagues, e.g. "the boys at the office, - police station etc." (often all adults). The members of a student fraternity can be called frat(ernity) boys, technically preferable to the pleonasm frat-bro(ther), and remain so for life as adults, after graduation. In sports 'the boys' commonly refers to the team mates; e.g., UK football managers quite often refer to their players as "The boy so-and-so" and this usage is by no means restricted to the youngest players, though it is rarely applied to the most senior. In US urban, particularly African American and Latino slang the term boy is used with a possessive as meaning friend (my boy, his boys), presumably as a reduction of homeboy, originally a male from the same area. Male bonding is a term that is used in ethology, social science, and in general usage to describe patterns of friendship and/or cooperation in men (or in the case of ethology: males of various species). ... An old boy network or society can refer to social and business associations among former pupils of top male-only public schools (independent secondary schools) in the United Kingdom, such as Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Charterhouse, private schools in Canada, and, to a lesser degree, to university students (notably Oxbridge... The terms fraternity and sorority (from the Latin words frater and soror, meaning brother and sister respectively) may be used to describe many social and charitable organizations, for example the Lions Club, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, Rotary International, Ordo Templi Orientis or the Shriners. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... For the Brazilian pop singer, see Latino (singer). ... For other uses, see Slang (disambiguation). ...

Boy scouts at summer camp in the United States.

In some cases, a word using boy is used merely to designate the age of the (male) person, irrespective of the function, as in altar boy, a minor acting as liturgical acolyte, or in Boy Scouts, an organisation specifically for boys. Thus the compound -man can then be replaced by -boy, as in footboy; or boy is simply added, either as a prefix (e.g., in boy-racer) or as a suffix (e.g., in Teddy Boy). Image File history File links ScoutFun. ... Image File history File links ScoutFun. ... For the Boy Scouting program within the BSA, see Boy Scouting (Boy Scouts of America). ... An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a religious service. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      This article... Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the Warsaw Uprising Boy Scouts originally denoted the organization that developed and rapidly grew up during 1908 in the wake of the publication by Lord Robert Baden-Powell of his book Scouting for Boys. ... A footman, plural -men, is a male household servant who serves at meals. ... the legendary AJS 7R 350 cc Boy Racer Poser Mobile, a parody of common mods. ... // The Teddy boy youth culture first emerged in Britain (starting in London, and rapidly spreading across the country) during the early 1950s, and soon after became strongly associated with American rock and roll music of the period. ...

An adult equivalent (with or without -man) is not to be expected when -boy designates an apprentice (for which some languages use a compound with the equivalent of boy, e.g. leerjongen 'learning boy' in Dutch) or lowest rank implying specific on the job training if promotion is to be obtained, as in kitchen-boy. Similarly schoolboy only applies to minors; the modern near-synonym pupil originally designated a minor in Roman law as being under a specific adult's authority, as in loco parentis. ...

Expressions such as "boys will be boys" (i.e., a male always retains a tendency for boyish games or mischief) allude to stereotypically ascribed characteristics of boys and men; in the term tomboy, a woman's (according to the counterpart-gender stereotype) uncharacteristically bold nature is even described solely by comparing her to a boy. For other uses, see Tomboy (disambiguation). ...

The use of boy (like kid) in (fantasy or descriptive) nick-names, also for adult men (e.g. Shark Boy for a wrestler with matching costume), may also connote to the informal or naughty image of boyhood. Look up kid in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Dean M. Roll (born January 28, 1975) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Shark Boy. ...

In such terms as 'city boy' or 'home boy', the age notion is at most anachronistic, as they indicate any male who grew up (or by extension lived a long time) in a certain environment.

Historically, in countries such as the U.S. and South Africa, "boy" was not only a 'neutral' term for domestics but also used as a disparaging racist insult towards non-white males (especially of African descent), recalling their subservient status even after the 20th century legal emancipation (from slavery, evolved to race segregation, viz. Apartheid) and alleged infantility, and many still consider it offensive in that context to this day. Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... This box:      Racism has many definitions, the most common and widely accepted is that members of one race are intrinsically superior or inferior to members of other races. ... An insult is a statement or action which affronts or demeans someone. ... The Rex Theatre for Colored People, Leland, Mississippi, June 1937 Racial segregation legally exists where governments have passed laws either allowing or requiring discrimination on the basis of race but it can also exist informally as it does today in most parts of the United States. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

Specific uses and compounds

The following subsections treat some specific contexts where the term boy is frequently used, as such or in compound terms, often 'emancipated' from the age notion as such.

They also show that similar semantic broadness applies to many languages, notably Indo-European; to avoid lengthy duplication, cases may simply be linked here.

• Master was replaced (not for a slave owner or his overseer etc.) by the late 19th century, as a form of address, especially employed by servants, by Mister (etymologically equal) for the master of the household and other adults, but retained for boys till age 13

Master is an English title. ... Mister or mister can be:- The full spelling (rarely used) of the title Mr. ...

Military

The term 'our boys' is commonly used for a nation's soldiers, often with sympathy. Given the physical demands of battle, recruits are preferably in their physical prime, but adult professionals remain included in the term as long as they remain in service.

A case where the term is formally used for (adult) men is sideboy, a member of an even-numbered group of seaman posted in two rows at the Quarterdeck when a visiting dignitary boards or leaves a ship. A sideboy is a member of an even-numbered group of seaman posted in two rows at the Quarterdeck when a visiting -political, military, diplomatic or royal- dignitary boards or leaves the ship, historically to help (or even hoist) him aboard, presently as a ceremonial guard of honour, in a...

In the Ottoman empire, the young, mainly Christian military recruits for life (often forcibly enlisted by 'devshirme') were officially called acemi oglanlar ("novice boys"). Devshirmeh (Turkish devşirme) refers to the system used by the Ottoman sultans to tax newly conquered states, and build a loyal slave army and class of administrators: the Janissaries. ...

Thus "-boy" can enter the nickname for a particular nation's soldiers, e.g. the US (infantry) doughboy, or a specific force, e.g. Fly-boy is slang for an airman. EXAMPLE:Laughbox,Blondie,BamBam,Pinkie,etc. ... This article is about a military rank. ... Doughboy is a now-outdated slang term for an American infantryman, best known from its use in World War I, although it potentially dates back to the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. ... Airman is a term used to refer to any enlisted personnel in the United States Air Force or Other Ranks in the Royal Air Force (in which airwoman is also seen). ...

Furthermore, specific terms refer to minors used in the armed forces:

• drummer boy
• ship's boy is a minor in naval training; boy seaman refers to specific, low-paid apprentice ranks, notably in the Royal Navy; until the middle of the twentieth century, they were the only Navy staff subject (like their civilian age-peers, at home and in school) to physical punishment, usually spanking, traditionally administered on the bare bottom (as in English public schools; the adults were lashed on the backside above the waist), either formally (ordered in court martial, publicly executed on deck) or, more often but less severely, summary; the same was true of a midshipman, also a minor, but indicated with "-man" rather than "-boy", possibly reflecting their higher status as future naval officers. Sometimes in ex-servicemen's parades, an old man is described as "ship's boy" to say that he served so classed in the Navy as a boy.

However, when a minor in military employ is considered (historically often far less restrictive then nowadays) too young to be a 'normal' warrior (illegal under present UN rules, but without precise enforceable age limits), he's called boy soldier, regardless whether he's used as an armed fighter or only in logistic or similar functions such as bearer. A drummer is a musician who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. ... Look up minor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A Boy Seaman (plural Boy seamen) is a boy (male minor) who serves as seaman and/or is trained for such service. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... [1] This article is about the use of spanking as discipline. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A midshipman is a subordinate officer, or alternatively a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the navies of several English-speaking countries. ... April 20, 1945. ...

Domestic, residential and similar 'personal' attendants

• Houseboy, or often "boy" for short, became a common term for domestic staff, notably non-European natives in the Asian and African colonies, adopted as such in other languages, e.g. in Dutch and French (also in the Belgian colonies).
• Bellboy was originally a ship's bell-ringer, later a hotel page.
• Busboy is a rank in restaurants etc. below (head) waiter, fitting for trainees but may be held by ripe adults, even under younger (e.g. better qualified) superiors
• Page, from the Greek παις pais, again in many languages, already in Hellenistic times παίδες βασιλικοί paides basilikoi 'royal (i.e. court) boys'.
• Cabin boy
• Cabana boy
• Hamam oğlanı "bath boy" (also called Tellak) working in a Turkish bath.
• Hall boy
• Kitchen boy, belows the cook(s); in a large household there may be specific functions, such as spitboy
• Linkboy like linkman meant torch- or other light-bearer

Houseboy, a term not in widespread use today due to a pejorative connotation, is a male servant who performs domestic or personal chores, as in: Houseboy, an American slang term that originated in WWII describing a native boy who helped a soldier preform basic responsibilites like cleaning, laundry, ironing, shoe... A bellhop (also bellboy or bellman) is a hotel porter, who helps patrons with their luggage while checking in or out. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A page is a young male servant. ... Cabin Boy is a bizarre fantasy film released in 1994 and produced by Tim Burton which starred comedian Chris Elliott. ... A cabana boy is a male attendant performing personal services to the guests of a hotel etc. ... A hammam in Chefchaouen, Morocco The Turkish hammam (also Turkish bath or hamam) is the Middle Eastern variant of a steam bath, which can be categorized as a wet relative of the sauna. ... The hall boy was the lowest ranked male servant on the staff of a great house. ... ... A cook is a household staff member responsible for food preparation. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This article is about portable open fires. ...

Cultural and religious life

• Altar boy (see above)
• Choir boy designates a boy (always a minor) singer in a choir; here applies a specific physiological, artistically relevant criterion: they remain a musical category of their own (boy soprano, also known as a treble) until their voice 'breaks', during puberty, to join one of the adult male voice registers (countertenor (closest to treble), alto, tenor, baritone, or bass); only the castrato may (not guaranteed) remain a soprano as an adult man; historically the term was designed for all-male (mainly church) choirs, with men with already broken voices (often former choir boys), in modern times it also applies to mixed choirs.

An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a religious service. ... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Treble (or Boy Soprano in slang) is a term applied in music to a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. ... Treble is a term applied in music to the high or acute part of the musical system, as opposed to the bass, the lower or grave part. ... Human voice is sound made by a person using the vocal folds for talking, singing or crying. ... A countertenor is an adult male who sings in an alto, mezzo-soprano or (more rarely) soprano range, often through use of falsetto, or sometimes natural head voice. ... This article is about the voice-type. ... This article is about Tenor vocalists in music. ... For other uses, see Baritone (disambiguation). ... A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the deepest vocal range of the human voice. ... A castrato is a male soprano, mezzo-soprano, or alto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. ... This article is about the voice-type. ...

Rural life and professions

• Cowboy originally designated a herdsboy employed as cowherd, but lost the age notion, first retaining the connotation of inferior status, later applying to the whole ranch life culture; by contrast "shepherd's boy" (rather herding sheep or goats, representing less capital) remained restricted to minors.

For other uses, see Cowboy (disambiguation). ... A cowboy (Spanish vaquero) tends cattle and horses on cattle ranches in North and South America. ... Species See text. ... This article is about the domestic species. ...

Commercial and other services

Often the term "boy" describes positions of the trainee type, such as stable boy (a junior stable hand). Training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relates to specific useful skills. ... ... A groom is an employee who is responsible for some or all aspects of the welfare of a stable owners horses and/or the care of the stables themselves. ...

• Best boy in a film crew denotes the chief assistant, usually of the gaffer or key grip, next in line to be promoted; an example of a use where the term is traditionally unaltered in crediting female incumbents
• Office boy and copy boy refer to a young(est) employee (i.e. lacking experience), in training and/or performing menial services such as making photocopies.
• Even into the early 20th century, the British empire systematically employed boy clerks, including a specific rank of boy copyist, recruited by examination (despite the name, requiring schooling) and reserved for candidates aged 15-18, not retained in that rank after the age of 20.

Certain jobs need so little training or formal qualifications that they can easily be performed as student job, and thus tend to be filled mostly or exclusively by minors, as it would not pay to employ an adult at or above minimum wage. Thus an equivalent word with the compound man (or similar) may be the rarer one, or even inexistent. Examples include delivery boy, errand boy, messenger boy and various specific terms naming the product to deliver, such as paperboy (closest adult counterpart postman), pizza boy (alongside pizzaman), or to serve, such as a potboy (drinks waiter). In other cases the compound mentions a crucial attribute of his task, e.g. ballboy (more recently also girls) in tennis. In a film crew there are two kinds of best boy; Best Boy Electric and Best Boy Grip. ... For other uses, see Clerk (disambiguation). ... Part time refers to the amount of time and effort spent by someone in employment (or another activity, such as volunteering) compared to a normal full-time job. ... Delivery is the process of transporting goods. ... A paperboy is the general name for a person (traditionally a preteen delivery boy) employed by a newspaper, a news agent or even an official postal service to deliver papers to subscribers as assigned by streets and routes, often on a bicycle. ... For other uses, see Pizza (disambiguation). ... ballboy are a 4-piece indie band from Edinburgh, Scotland. ...

In some cases his small, light body makes a boy a better choice, e.g. as jockey where no weight handicap is in force. The racecourse in Chester. ...

• A nipper originally was a boy send out by an adult (often his own father) as pickpocket (thief who 'snatches' purses), later a boy assistant to various professions such as a carter, still later (recorded since 1859) a boys' age term roughly equal to toddler

Photograph of the original painting of Nipper looking into an Edison Bell cylinder phonograph. ... Pickpocketing is a crime, a form of larceny which involves the stealing of money and valuables off the person of a victim without them noticing. ... // Carter is a common English name and can be a given name or surname. ... Boy toddler Toddler is a common term for a a young child who is learning to walk or toddle,[1] generally considered to be the second stage of development after infancy and occurring predominantly during the ages of 12 to 36 months old. ...

Role play

In BDSM, the term boy, often in the deliberate misspelling boi (which has other gay uses), sometimes specified (notably 'domestic' houseboi), refers not to junior age, but to the submissive position in the role play (e.g. father-son, teacher-pupil, owner-slave) at the masters beck and call, also known as bottom, especially if this implies submitting to discipline by the dominant 'top', who may not only command and humiliate the boi at his discretion but even administer punishment (often spanking, making the term bottom most appropriate) at his (dis)pleasure. Collars are a commonly used symbol of BDSM and can be ornamental or functional. ... Boi may refer to: BOI, the airport code for Boise International Airport in Idaho One of a number of Celtic tribes called Boi Paolo Boi, (1528-1598) Italian chess player who beat the Pope Saint Boi de Llobregat, a town near Barcelona Boi music, a style of Central Amazon folk... This article is about the erotic activity. ... [1] This article is about the use of spanking as discipline. ...

Non-function specific analogous terms

Boys, in the strict or a wider sense, are often informally referred to by analogous or metaphorical terms. The literal connotations, which may be ironic or downright pejorative, have often been eroded by common use. Some terms are unisex, with or without (at least historical) preponderance of use for boys:-

• Cub, pup(py) and whelp compare boys to the young of predatory animals, the slang tadpole even to that of an amphibian;
• Buck, another animal young, usually refers to a sexually adventurous male youngster
• Loon, originally an (idle) lout, has got -mainly in Scotland- unrelated specific meanings, including boy, simpleton and looney person
• Sprout compares to a plant's young shoots
• References to the boy's generally lighter physique then a man include stripling 'slender youth' and -rather insulting- slang like half-pint or small-fry
• More specifically, shaveling (or in slang shaver) refers to boys' lesser hair growth then men's before - and densification around puberty
• Various terms refer to children's, often especially boys', lack of adult manners (e.g. "snot(ty) nose(d) (kid)") or to often mischievous behavior, e.g. "rascal", also by analogy with animals, e.g. "monkey", "urchin" (as 'prickly' as a hedgehog); "(spoiled) brat" refers to such undiscipline for lack of firm upbringing.
• Furthermore, common boys' names have also been used metonymically to stand for boys and/or men in general, as in 'every Dick and Tom'.

Cub can refer to: the young of certain large predatory animals such as bears, lions and other big cats, and wolves; analogous to a canine pup (also in some of the following meanings) by analogy a human youth, especially one who is inexperienced, awkward, or ill-mannered, boy or (rarer... PUP is a TLA that can stand for: PARC Universal Packet, one of the two earliest internetworking communications protocols Potentially unwanted programs, a term used for software you probably dont want installed, but isnt as annoying as adware, one example of PUP is spyware. ... For other uses, see Tadpole (disambiguation). ... Buck may refer to any of the following: Look up Buck in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Global distribution of Gaviidae (breeding and winter ranges combined) Species Gavia stellata Gavia arctica Gavia pacifica Gavia immer Gavia adamsii The Loons (N.Am. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline for Music. ... This article is about the plant section. ... Stripling can be: a term for a young man, as in Stripling warrior Bass player Jon Stripling author Kathryn Stripling Byer musician Sidney Stripling football player Steve Stripling department store Stripling & Cox (United States) Stripling Middle School (in Fort Worth, Texas) novel character Jimmy Stripling cartoon Landing Stripling (Tom and... A razor is an edge tool (primarily, used in shaving). ... Look up rascal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Urchin is the old English term for hedgehog. ... For other uses, see Brat. ...

Analogous uses and popular etymology

By analogy "boy" can also refer as an anthropomorphic term to a young male (or any male) of another animal, either in general or species-specific; in the last case it may even have a specific term, notably derived from a boy's name, such as "billy goat" for a 'boy' goat, or tomcat (known since 1809, for any male cat; but just Tom, applied to male kittens, is recorded since c.1303) Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ... Tomcat has several meanings, including: A male cat. ...

Again by analogy "boy" can occasionally even refer to a 'male' object.

Some words contain 'boy' in English by mistake (folk etymology), actually referring to a (near) homophone such as French bois = "wood" (e.g. in "low boy", a type of furniture, and in "tallboy", both furniture and a high glass or goblet). Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways: A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word, a false etymology. ... For the UK band, see Furniture (band). ... Russian chalice A chalice (from Latin calix, cup) is a goblet, intended to hold just drink. ...

Similar originally youth-related terms

• bachelor evolved in the 14th century from "knight in training" (possibly by the staff to train for swordfight) to "junior member of a guild or university" and by 1386 to "unmarried man"
• cadet
• garçon, the French for boy, a form of the archaic or non-standard gars (meaning (usually young) man), was adopted in various languages (in English reported since 1788) for a (food or drinks) waiter
• groom (not the etymologically unrelated homophone meaning "husband-to-be") originally meant "young male", possibly related to "gromet" (servant, especially ship's boy), and only in the 1667 was specifically used for a stable man or - boy (even the last not necessarily a youth).
• infant, originally 'child too young to speak' evolved to infantryman 'foot soldier' (also footman) and, in Iberian language, to the princely style infante (this, like the original meaning, unisex).
• knave (Old English cnafa or cnapa, cognate with Dutch knaap, German Knabe, and Knappe, "boy"), originally "a male child", "a boy" (Chaucer, Canterbury Tales: Clerks Tale, I. 388). Like Latin puer, the word was early used as a name for any boy or lad employed as a servant, and so of male servants in general (Chaucer: Pardoners Tale, 1. 204), and especially a journeyman. The current use of the word "knave" for "a man who is dishonest and crafty, a rogue", was however an early usage, and is found in Layamon (c. 1205). In playing-cards the lowest court card of each suit, the jack, representing a medieval servant, is still often called the knave.
• The term junior = 'younger', antonym of senior, occurs in titles as 'lower grade', in terms of service years (not age) or even merely hierarchical, on criteria regardless of experience; equivalent is puisne.
• The term lad', or in the Scottish diminutive form laddie (recorded since 1546): known since c.1300 as ladde "foot soldier," also "young male servant" (attested as a surname from c.1100), possibly from a Scandinavian language (cf. Norwegian -ladd, in compounds for "young man"), perhaps originally a plural of the pp. of lead (v.), thus "one who is led" (by a lord); present meaning "boy, youth, young man" attested from c.1440; in Northern England, and particularly in the county of Lancashire, males of all ages jokingly refer to themselves as being a Lancashire "lad". Lass(ie) is the female counterpart.
• minor now usually applies unisex, but historically there was often a different age limit (a remnant may be the age of sexual consent) or even a legal system in which women were never fully emancipated in the eyes of the law, and so passed from the dominion of their fathers to that of their husbands.
• oac, the Old Irish for "youths", later came to mean "soldier", as in Gallóglaigh (gallowglass)
• Son, literally a parent's male child, has been used for a male 'junior' which could be called a boy, specifically in respect to a senior, especially a 'father figure', as a man often calls a (significantly younger) boy who addresses him as Sir, or a clergyman (still commonly addressed as father) used to address male laymen, especially those in his pastoral care; the diminutive sonny is reserved for young boys
• The terms squire and esquire, both from Old French esquier (modern French écuyer), itself from Latin scutarius "shield bearer", originally entered English as a boy in attendance to a knight (like page), but were socially promoted and lost their age-connotation.
• The term swain, from Old Norse sveinn, originally meant young man or servant, even as a Norwegian court title) entered English c.1150 as "young man attendant upon a knight" i.e. squire, or junior rank, as in boatswain and coxswain, but now usually means a boyfriend (since 1585) or a country lad (farm laborer since 1579; especially a young shepherd, cognate with Old English swan 'swineherd').
• The term vassal stems from an Old Celtic root *wasso- "young man, squire" (e.g. Welsh gwas "youth, servant," Breton goaz "servant, vassal, man," Irish foss "servant").
• The term valet and its variant "varlet" also derive from "vassal" (above) and apply to male servants, sometimes specifically boys.
• wag, now meaning "person fond of making jokes," is recorded in English since 1553; it derives from the verb to wag (i.e. to make a swinging movement), perhaps in this context as a shortening of waghalter "gallows bird," a person destined to swing in a noose or halter, soon applied humorously to mischievous children (the same notion remains in the Dutch expression voor galg en rad opgroeien), later to all young men without the naughty connotation, finally to witty persons
• the term youth itself is not uncommonly used specifically for a young male, notably between puberty and maturity

A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married (see single). ... A cadet is a future officer in the military. ... Garçon is the French word for boy. ... A waiter in a resort setting A waiter is one who waits on tables, often at a restaurant or a bar. ... Servant has a number of meaning: A servant is another word for domestic worker, a person who is hired to provide regular household or other duties, and receives compensation. ... Etymology is the study of the origins of words. ... A groom is an employee who is responsible for some or all aspects of the welfare of a stable owners horses and/or the care of the stables themselves. ... Infantry in the First World War Infantry (or Infantrymen) are soldiers who fight primarily on foot, using personal weapons. ... In the Spanish and former Portuguese monarchies, Infante (masc. ... Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ... Chaucer: Illustration from Cassells History of England, circa 1902 Chanticleer the rooster from an outdoor production of Chanticleer and the Fox at Ashby_de_la_Zouch castle Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. ... The Pardoners Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales. ... For other uses, see Journeyman (disambiguation). ... Layamon, or Laȝamon (using the archaic letter yogh), was a poet of the early 13th century, whose Brut (c. ... Some typical modern playing cards. ... Look up junior in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Puisne (from Old French puisne, modern putne, later born, inferior; Lat. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... In law, the term minor (also infant or infancy) is used to refer to a person who is under the age in which one legally assumes adulthood and is legally granted rights afforded to adults in society. ... The term Gallowglas or Galloglass is an Anglicisation of the Irish, Gallóglaigh (foreign soldiers), incorporating the Celtic word Óglach, which is derived from oac, the Old Irish for youths, but later meaning soldier. A Medieval Hebridean warrior. ... For other uses, see Son (disambiguation). ... Father Figure was a song written and performed by George Michael and releaed on Epic records in 1988. ... For other uses, see Squire (disambiguation). ... This article is about the title. ... For other uses, see Knight (disambiguation) or Knights (disambiguation). ... Look up swain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ... The bosun aboard a modern merchant ship stands cargo watch as freight is lowered into an open hatch. ... The coxswain (pronounced cox-É™n; often called the cox) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. ... Look up vassal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the 2007 French film, see The Valet. ... For other uses, see Youth (disambiguation) Youth is defined by Websters New World Dictionary as, The time of life when one is young; especially: a: the period between childhood and maturity b: the early period of existence, growth, or development. ...

Boys in art

In classical (especially Greek) art, the dominant image of physical beauty, adopted even for the gods, is that of the male athlete, whether a ripe boy or a young adult, in Greek art often a kouros in the nude. Especially the Renaissance followed their example, here as in many things. A sportsperson (British and American English) or athlete (principally American English) is any person who participates regularly in a sport. ... The great kouros of Samos, the largest surviving kouros in Greece (Samos Archaeological Museum) A kouros (plural kouroi) is a statue of a male youth, dating from the Archaic Period of Greek sculpture (about 650 BC to about 500 BC). ... The word nude may refer to: The state of nudity. ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ...

Many mythological boys have frequently been represented in various arts, e.g. Venus' often mischievous son Cupid, himself a young god of love which he 'inflicts' on humans by shooting his arrows; in some style periods even multiplied as naked little boys called putti. This article is about the Roman god. ... The putto is a figure of a pudgy baby, almost always male, often naked and having wings, found especially in Italian Renaissance art. ...

In religious art, generally adults preponderate (except as extras), with certain marked, stereotypical exceptions such as the infant Jesus or angels which may even act as 'Christianized' putti. This article is about the figure known by both Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Christ. For other usages, see Jesus (disambiguation). ... This article is about the supernatural being. ...

In portrait art, and generally in commissioned work (including funeral art), the subjects are usually determined by the wishes of the (adult) client, so minors are often in the minority, yet in wealthy families especially heirs are (re)presented as part of their social positioning in view of future marriage and succession, generally either as mini-adults or stereotypical youth, e.g. at play or in cozy home scenes. For other uses, see Portrait (disambiguation). ...

Some artists displayed a clear predeliction for scenes with boys, in certain cases (especially if frequently depicting revealing poses) believed to have to do with a homo-erotic taste, as is believed of the highly respected Old Master Caravaggio, or Henry Scott Tuke who kept producing such works even though the market circa 1900 was rather unappreciative. For other uses, see Caravaggio (disambiguation). ... Henry Scott Tuke Henry Scott Tuke (12 June 1858–13 March 1929), British painter, is best remembered for his paintings of naked boys, which have earned him the status of a pioneer of gay male culture. ...

In music, boys' voices before they 'break', of a soprano register (specifically known as treble) unlike adult men (in a choir usually tenor and bass), have been most sought-after, especially where female voices were considered inappropriate as often in church and certain theatrical music - this even lead to the practice of physically trying to prevent their 'angelical' voices ever to break by surgically cutting short the hormonal drive to manhood: for centuries, castrato singers, who coupled adult strength and experience with a treble register, starred in contratenor parts, mainly in operatic styles. Treble is a term applied in music to the high or acute part of the musical system, as opposed to the bass, the lower or grave part. ... A castrato is a male soprano, mezzo-soprano, or alto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. ...

Roman-Egyptian funeral portrait of a young boy Download high resolution version (299x613, 46 KB)Fayum mummy portrait of a boy, 1st century The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ...	Two Greek gods: Apollo, patron and model of beauty and athletes, and the young Hyacinthus; 16th c. Italian engraving by Jacopo Caraglio Image File history File links Hyacinthus. ... For other uses, see Apollo (disambiguation). ... The Death of Hyacinthos by Jean Broc. ...	Amor Victorious. 1602–03 Caravaggio shows Eros prevailing over other human endeavors: war, music, science, government. Download high resolution version (871x1190, 149 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Amor Vincit Omnia (meaning Love Conquers All, known in English by a variety of names including Amor Victorious, Victorious Cupid, Love Triumphant, Love Victorious, or Earthly Love) is a painting by the Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), currently in the Gemäldegalerie (Berlin). ... This article is about the Greek god Eros. ...	The Bathers by Henry Scott Tuke. Image File history File links Tuke,_Henry_Scott_(1858–1929),_"The_Bathers".jpg‎ Henry Scott Tuke (1858–1929), The bathers. File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Boy Henry Scott Tuke User:Markaci/Nudity Historical pederastic couples Nudity... Henry Scott Tuke Henry Scott Tuke (12 June 1858–13 March 1929), British painter, is best remembered for his paintings of naked boys, which have earned him the status of a pioneer of gay male culture. ...
Cupidon, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1875 Image File history File links Cupidon. ... Cupidon, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1875 Cupidon (French for Cupid) is a painting created by artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1875. ... William-Adolphe Bouguereau, self-portrait (1886). ...	Sir Walter Raleigh and his son, 1602 Image File history File links Download high resolution version (426x700, 109 KB)Sir Walter Raleigh and his Son by an Unknown Artist, 1602. ... This article is about the sixteenth-century explorer. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Boys

Look up Boy in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Adolescence
• Boi (gender)
• Boy band
• Boy bishop
• Boy Scouts
• Child
• Girl
• Man
• Pederasty

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ... Teen redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A boy band is a type of pop group featuring three or more young male singers. ... Boy Bishop, was a name given to a custom very widespread in the Middle Ages, whereby a boy was chosen, for example among cathedral choristers, to parody the real Bishop, commonly on the feast of Holy Innocents. ... This article is about the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts/Girl Guides organizations. ... For other uses, see Child (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Girl (disambiguation). ... Photograph of a nude man by Wilhelm von Gloeden, ca. ... Pederasty or paederasty (literally boy-love, see Etymology below) refers to an intimate or erotic relationship between an adolescent boy and an adult male outside his immediate family. ...

Sources and references

The references in this article would be clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking.

Buck, Carl Darling (1949). A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-07937-6 (1988 reprint).  Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Carl Darling Buck (October 2, 1866 _ 1955), American philologist, was born at Bucksport, Maine. ...

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Etymology OnLine- here boy, see also other words
• H.H.Malincrodt, Latijn-Nederlands woordenboek (Latin-Dutch dictionary)
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary
• Boyhood Studies, website and journal for the study of boys
• Boyhood Studies Forum discusses news items, new research
• Historical Boys' Clothing