Etymology

goy

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Today it means: A non-Jew; a gentile. Full definition →

Yiddish גוי (goy) ← Biblical Hebrew גּוֹי (goi)
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goy · noun1

  1. Biblical Hebrewגּוֹי (goi)
  2. Yiddishגוי (goy)
  3. English todaygoy

Borrowed from Yiddish גוי (goy, “gentile”), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew גּוֹי (goi, “nation”). The term goy does not technically refer to non-Jews, but rather to a nation per se; the Jews are said to constitute a goy. But through common usage – namely referring to "the [other non-Jewish] nations" – the word came to colloquially refer to non-Jews.

Goy · proper noun2

  1. Hokkien · borrowed from倪
  2. Old French · derived fromgoi“bill hook, kind of knife”
  3. French · borrowed fromGoy
  4. Galician · borrowed fromGoy
  5. English todayGoy

Various origins: * English habitational surname of Norman origin, from any of various places in France called Gouy. * Borrowed from Galician Goy, a habitational surname from a small village in the province of Lugo. * Borrowed from French Goy, a metonymic occupational surname for a farmer, from Old French goi (“bill hook, kind of knife”). * Borrowed from Hokkien 倪 (gê); compare Ni, which derives from the standard Chinese pronunciation of these characters.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.