boy

The word “boy” means a male child or young man. In plain terms, a young male person, or (informally) an exclamation of surprise.

“Boy” is pronounced boy (/bɔɪ/ in IPA).

Here is “boy” used in a sentence: “The boy ran ahead of his parents toward the playground.”

Words with a similar meaning to “boy” include manservant, bhoy, boyo, boykin, callant and chav.

The opposite of “boy” — its antonyms — are girl and man.

Depending on how it is used, “boy” can be a noun and an interjection.

The word “boy” comes from Middle English. From Middle English "boy" (servant, young man), traced back to a Germanic root referring to a younger brother or male relation.

“Boy” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

A boy is a male who is still a child or in his youth; a man is an adult male. The distinction is mostly age and maturity — boyhood spans childhood and the teenage years, while manhood begins at adulthood. Casually, 'boy' can also be an affectionate term for a grown male among friends.

It depends on the contrast you're drawing. By gender, the opposite is 'girl' — a female child or young woman. By age, the opposite is 'man' — an adult male. Choose 'girl' when you're contrasting male with female, and 'man' when you're contrasting youth with adulthood.

There's no fixed cutoff. 'Boy' generally covers infancy through the teenage years, and 'man' takes over around adulthood, often eighteen. Usage stays flexible: legally the shift sits near eighteen, but socially people may be called boys or men earlier or later depending on maturity, tone, and context.