# boss

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɒs/ · frequency rank #1,785

## Definitions
1. A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
2. A person in charge of a business or company.
3. A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
4. The head of a political party in a given region or district.
5. The male owner or man in charge of a large rural property.
6. A term of address to a man, especially a customer, but also sometimes to a friend or acquaintance of equal standing.
7. An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.
8. One's wife.

## Etymology
From Dutch baas, from Middle Dutch baes (“master of a household, friend”), from Old Dutch *baso (“uncle, kinsman”), from Proto-West Germanic *baswō, from Proto-Germanic *baswô (“uncle”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *ba-, *bō- (“father, older male relative”), source also of the English terms babe, boy, bub, bully. Cognate with Middle Low German bās (“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 video game sense is borrowed from Japanese ボス (bosu), in turn from English boss.

## Easily confused with
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bs)
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-boy)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-box)
- **bus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bus)
- **bow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bow)
- **bot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bot)
- **BTS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bts)
- **BSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bsa)
- **bps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bps)
- **both** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-both)
- **boys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-boys)
- **busy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-busy)
- **bowl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bowl)
- **bush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bush)
- **bros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bros)
- **bout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bout)
- **bugs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bugs)
- **bust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-bust)
- **buys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-buys)
- **Boyd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boss-vs-boyd)

## Common misspellings (4)
`bboss`, `bos`, `bsos`, `obss`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/boss