====== 'Boy' etymology ====== >Boy (n.) \\ Mid-13c., //boie// "servant, commoner, knave, boy," of unknown origin. Possibly from Old French //embuie// "one fettered," from Vulgar Latin *//imboiare//, from Latin //boia// "leg iron, yoke, leather collar," from Greek //boeiai dorai// "ox hides." (Words for "boy" double as "servant, attendant" across the Indo-European map -- compare Italian //ragazzo//, French //garçon//, Greek //pais//, Middle English //knave//, Old Church Slavonic //otroku// -- and often it is difficult to say which meaning came first.) > >Source : [[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=boy|Online Etymology Dictionary]] ''//Note:// The [[https://www.etymonline.com/|Online Etymology Dictionary]] maintains a free-access list of the origins of thousands of English words, a significant proportion of which are unknown''