buoy

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʷṓws“cow”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromβόεος
3. Latin · derived fromboia“a (leather) collar, band, fetter”
4. Old French · derived frombuie“fetter, chain”
5. Middle Dutch · derived fromboeye“shackle, fetter”
6. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*baukną
7. Frankish · derived from*baukn“beacon”
8. Old French · derived fromboue“piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored”
9. Middle Dutch · derived fromboeye“float, buoy”
10. Middle English · inherited fromboy
11. English todaybuoy

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. Lindell in 2003.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• 2003 A sign where the non-dominant hand is held in a stationary configuration as a landmark for meaning associations with the dominant hand.