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A boy is a young male human (usually child or adolescent), as contrasted to its female counterpart, which is called girl. more...

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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.

Etymology

The origin of the English word boy, recorded since 1154, is unclear; it is probably related to East Frisian boi, Old Norse bófi, Dutch boef "(criminal) knave, rogue", and German Bube. These apparently all have their origin in baby talk (like the word baby itself) (Buck 1949: 89).

But there is a theory that English "boy" derives from a theorized Anglo-Saxon word *boia = "boy or servant", thus explaining the English placenames Boyton and Boycott. If so, the word may have originated from the Celtic tribe called the Boii, who formerly lived in Bohemia but were driven out by the Marcomanni German tribe taking the area over in Roman times. In the dispersal, many Boii may have become slaves or servants, and their name became a word for "servant". (The same happened later to many Slav people, whence the word slave.)

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.

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.

In some traditions boyhood is held to be exchanged for adult manhood, or at least approach it significantly, by certain 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.

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