Etymology

boo

B3O1O1

Today it means: A loud exclamation intended to scare someone. Usually used when one has been hidden from the target, and then appears unexpectedly. Often used in playful or jokeful context. Full definition →

French beau
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boo · interjection, noun, verb1

From earlier (15c.) boh, coined to create a loud and startling sound. Compare Middle English bus! (“bang!”, interjection), Latin boō (“cry aloud, roar, shout”, verb), Ancient Greek βοάω (boáō, “shout”, verb).

boo · noun2

  1. French · derived frombeau
  2. English todayboo

From beau, from French beau. First appears c. 1988 in the Washington Post: See the cite below.

boo · noun3

Of unknown origin, possibly from boojum, from a fancied resemblance of the plants. First appears c. 1959 in Esquire Magazine.

boo · verb4

Likely onomatopoeic.

boo · noun5

  1. French · derived frombeau“beautiful”
  2. English todayboo

Dubious; perhaps adaptation of French beau (“beautiful”).

Boo · proper noun6

  1. Swedish · derived fromBoo
  2. English todayBoo

From Swedish Boo.

Boo · proper noun7

  1. Chinese · derived from巫
  2. Min Nan · derived from巫
  3. Malay · borrowed fromBoo
  4. English todayBoo

From Malay Boo, from Min Nan 巫 ( Chinese 巫 ). Transliteration of Min Nan 巫.

Boo · proper noun8

  1. Chinese · derived from夫
  2. Korean · borrowed from夫
  3. Korean · borrowed from부
  4. English todayBoo

From Korean 부 (bu), from Korean 夫, from Chinese 夫. Transliteration of Korean 부 (bu).

Boo · proper noun9

  1. Dutch · borrowed fromde Boo
  2. Dutch · borrowed fromde Boo
  3. English todayBoo

Borrowed from Dutch de Boo.

Words from the same roots

Frenchbeau all →

beau sabreur

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.