Added 8 October 2026
buoy
/ˈbɔɪ/ noun
In Latin: attollo Coined: a coined word Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about buoy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational channel or for other purposes A lifebuoy; a life preserver.
- A lifebuoy; a life preserver.
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A sign where the non-dominant hand is held in a stationary configuration as a landmark for meaning associations with the dominant hand. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
list buoy
verb
Origin
From Middle English boy, boye, from Middle Dutch boeye (“float, buoy”), from Old French boue (“piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored”) (modern French bouée), ultimately from Frankish *baukn (“beacon”), from Proto-Germanic *baukną. Doublet of beacon. Alternatively, and perhaps less likely (due to the unexplained shift in meaning), from Middle Dutch boeye (“shackle, fetter”), from Old French buie (“fetter, chain”), from Latin boia (“a (leather) collar, band, fetter”), from Ancient Greek βόεος (bóeos), βόειος (bóeios, “of ox-hide”), from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”). Noun sense 2 was coined by American linguist Scott K.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)