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goy

[ goi ]

noun

, Sometimes Disparaging.
, plural goy·im [goi, -im], goys.
  1. a term used by a Jew to refer to someone who is not Jewish.
  2. a term used by an observant Jew to refer to a Jew who is not religious or is ignorant of Judaism.


goy

/ ɡɔɪ /

noun

  1. a Jewish word for a gentile
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Sensitive Note

In Yiddish and Hebrew, goy is a neutral, descriptive term meaning gentile. In English, it may sometimes be used disparagingly or contemptuously. The word is also considered disparaging when it is applied to a Jew who is not observant.
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Derived Forms

  • ˈgoyish, adjective
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Other Words From

  • goy·ish adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of goy1

First recorded in 1835–45; from Yiddish, from Hebrew goi “nation, non-Jew, Jew ignorant of the Jewish religion”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of goy1

from Yiddish, from Hebrew goi people
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Example Sentences

You put the id back in Yid, Portnoy instructed, and you come to understand the “oy” in goy.

The narrator calls two of the men "Bill the Goy" and "Clyde the Schlub."

In the eyes of the Goy he's something peculiar, something disgraceful!

Pooty soon Bill said to hisself, 'Goy-blamed ef I don't think he's friz to death, or else he'd say somethin'!'

Truly the wise man's proverb is just: "Sedaukauh teromain goy, veh-ka-sade le-u-meem khahmaut."

For what is absolutely necessary they employ an occasional servant, who is known as the "Shobbos Goy."

Two in particular, Agasaki and Goy, are thus described by Kmpfer.

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