boy

Name: boy, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/bɔɪ/

//bɔɪ// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“boy” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #688) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#688
frequency rank, English: 4,121
“B” headwords: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A male child.

Corpus desk

Index EN-boy · boy · English

boy · rank #688 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-CORE #688
LEN-MID 3 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-0 0 variants
BOOK-MID 4,121
PHOTO-FINISH answer

Nearest frequency peer: answer (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

wish

99,316
wouldn't

99,315
answer

99,314
boy

99,313
design

99,312
finally

99,311

What this shows Bars show where “boy” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

boy vs by

67% similar

boy vs BS

0% similar

boy vs br

33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for boy
Property	Value
Headword	boy
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/bɔɪ/
Letters	3
Frequency rank	#688
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “boy” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). boy lands here:

#688

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for boy is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "BS", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /bɔɪ/. Frequency #688 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 18 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for boy, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "BS", "br", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Proto-West Germanic *bōjō Old English *bōia Middle English boye English boy From Middle English boy /boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germani… The correct English form is boy, spelled B-O-Y.

Definition

1
A male child.
2
A young man.
3
A son of any age.
4
A male human younger than the speaker.
5
A male human of any age, as opposed to a "girl" (female human of any age).
6
A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave.
7
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, particularly
8
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee
9
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee
10
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee
11
Any non-white male, regardless of age.
12
A male friend.
13
A male submissive.
14
A male non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male pet, especially a dog.
15
A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.
16
Heroin.
17
A male (tree, gene, etc).
18
Any tangible object close to one's person; often used in emphatic forms such as bad boy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how boy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

Kieran plays football with other boys in his school.
The ſtretes of the cite alſo ſhalbe full of yonge boyes and damſelles, playnge vpon the ſtretes.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Proto-West Germanic *bōjō Old English *bōia Middle English boye English boy From Middle English boy /boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, from Proto-Germanic *bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”). Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Dutch boi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), Bavarian Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”), Lombard bagaj. See also bully.

Synonyms

chap guy lad mate son manservant brat knave squirt heroin bhoy boy boykin boyo callant chav feely-omi little boy man child manling page pillicock sapling shaveling sonny springald stripling yob younker youth

Antonyms

girl man

This word in other languages

niño(Español)garçon(Français)Bub(Deutsch)garoto(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "boy"?

"boy" is spelled B-O-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /bɔɪ/.

What does "boy" mean?

As a noun, "boy" means: A male child.

What words are commonly confused with "boy"?

"boy" is commonly confused with "by", "BS", "br". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "boy"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "boy" is /bɔɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "boy"?

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "boy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hot#711 won#646 tax#758 eat#765

What to do next

You've looked up "boy". Here's where to go from here.

"boy" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "by". View pair
Usage frequency rank #688 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
Browse more English words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse
PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.