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What is the difference between male and boy?

male | boy | Synonyms |

Boy is a synonym of male.


As nouns the difference between male and boy

is that male is someone of male (masculine) gender: while boy is male servant.

As a adjective male

is belonging to the sex which produces sperm, which in humans and many other species is the one which has xy chromosomes.

As a interjection boy is

exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.

As a verb boy is

to use the word boy to refer to someone.

male

English

(wikipedia male)

Adjective

(-)
  • Belonging to the sex which typically has testes, which in humans and most other mammals is typically the one which has XY chromosomes.
  • * 1969 , Human afflictions and chromosomal aberrations , page 245:
  • On the one hand, the observation of Shah et al''. (1961) of male pseudohermaphroditism with XX karyotype and intra-abdominal testicles. Only the skin was studied so that a possibility of mosaicism cannot be dismissed. Two other XX male subjects (Court Brown ''et al. , 1964) raise a similar problem.
  • * 1995 , Nancy Condee, Soviet Hieroglyphics: Visual Culture in Late Twentieth-century Russia , page 113:
  • The masked woman's lips do not move, but her voice is heard again, "And then, awakened by a daring kiss..."
    Behind the mask[,] the woman's eyes flicker open as a male voice is heard off-screen,
  • Belonging to the masculine (social) gender.
  • Pertaining to or associated with men, or male animals; masculine.
  • * 1974 , (Lawrence Durrell), Monsieur , Faber & Faber 1992, page 289:
  • In the powder rooms of the world's great hotels[,] when male lesbians meet they show each other their wedding rings and burst out laughing.
  • * 2009 December 11, The Guardian :
  • "While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with them, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorised performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes," the band's lawyers alleged.
  • (biology) Inherently characteristic of the male of a species.
  • * 2009 September 11, The Guardian :
  • "It's very complex area," said Bowen-Simpkins, a consultant gynaecologist. "The male hormone is what gives bulk to muscles and bones so they are at an advantage."
  • (grammar, less common than 'masculine') Masculine; of the masculine grammatical gender.
  • * 2012 , Naomi McIlwraith, Kiyâm: Poems (ISBN 1926836693), page 43:
  • The teacher's voice inflects the pulse of nêhiyawêwin as he teaches us. He says a prayer in the first class. Nouns, we learn, have a gender. In French, nouns are male or female, but in Cree, nouns are living or non-living, animate or inanimate.
  • (figuratively) Of instruments, tools, or connectors: designed to fit into or penetrate a "female" counterpart, as in a connector or pipe fitting.
  • Synonyms

    * manly, masculine * (figuratively) plug, pin

    Coordinate terms

    * transgender * intersex * androgynous * female * neuter

    Derived terms

    * male-assigned, cismale, transmale

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One of the male (masculine) sex or gender.
  • # A human member of the masculine sex or gender.
  • #* 2008 , Linda Goldman, Coming Out, Coming in: Nurturing the Well-being and Inclusion of Gay Youth in Mainstream Society (ISBN 0415958245), page 27:
  • a biologically female person who identifies as a male .
  • #* 2013 , Emery & Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics (ISBN 0123838355), chapter 88, page 6:
  • Among 46,XX males not having genital ambiguity, 80% show SRY as noted.
  • # An animal of the sex that has testes.
  • # A plant of the masculine sex.
  • Synonyms

    * boy

    Antonyms

    * female

    See also

    * man * macho * masculine * * sex, gender, gender identity

    Anagrams

    * (l), (l), (l), (l), , (l), (l), (l) English terms with homophones 1000 English basic words ----

    boy

    English

    Alternative forms

    * boi (Jamaican English)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Male servant.
  • # (now, rare) A male servant, in general senses.
  • # (historical, now, offensive) A non-white male servant, as used especially by whites in a colonial settlement etc.
  • When the 'dipenda' (independence movement) in Belgian Congo turned violent, the white colonisers' often materially privileged black domestic boys were mistrusted and often abused as collaborators.
  • # (now, offensive) A non-white male.
  • (obsolete) A lower-class or disreputable man; a worthless person.
  • * 1608 , (William Shakespeare), (King Lear) , Act I Scene 4:
  • Dost thou call me fool, boy ?
  • A young male human; a male child or young adult.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys , but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
  • A son.
  • * (Walter Scott)
  • My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee.
  • A man of any age, used as a friendly diminutive, or of a man who is merely younger than the speaker.
  • * 1977 , (Bert Newton), to (Mohammed Ali) at the 1977 Logie Awards:[http://www.abc.net.au/thingo/txt/s1088100.htm]
  • I like the boy .
  • (colloquial) A male friend or fellow of some group, community etc. (mainly used in the plural).
  • (US, slang) Heroin.
  • Synonyms

    * brat * knave * lad * squirt * youngster * youth * See also

    See also

    * (African-American) uncle

    Antonyms

    * (young male) girl

    Derived terms

    * altar boy * attaboy * bad boy * bagboy * ball boy, ballboy * bat boy * b-boy * bell boy, bellboy * best boy * big boys * blue-eyed boy * boi * boy band * boy-bishop * boy crazy * boyfriend * boy genius * boyhood * boy howdy * boyish * boyism * boykin (diminutive) * boy oh boy * boy racer * boys and their toys * boy scout * boytjie * boy toy * boys will be boys * boy wonder * bully boy * bum boy * cabin boy * city boy * college boy * copy boy * cowboy * delivery boy * doughboy * farm boy * frat boy * golden boy * homeboy * house boy * lawnboy * little boy * lowboy * mama’s boy]], [[mummy's boy, mummy’s boy * my boy * nancy boy * newsboy * office boy * oh boy * old boy * our boy * page boy, pageboy * paper boy, paperboy * pizza boy, pizzaboy * pool boy * poor boy, po’ boy * poster boy * potboy * pretty boy * rent boy * sailor boy * sea boy * shop boy * sonny boy * stableboy * tallboy * Teddy boy * tomboy * traffic boy * water boy * whipping boy * whiteboy, white boy * wide boy * wolf boy * yellow boy, yellow-boy

    Descendants

    * Irish English: boyo * Vietnamese:

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • to use the word boy to refer to someone
  • to act as a boy (qualifier, in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage)
  • * Shakespeare
  • I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness.

    See also

    * girl, man (antonyms in some senses) * *

    References

    *

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----