goy

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Pronunciations

goy (GOY) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A nation, but not the Jewish nation.

  • n. Non-Jew

Example Sentences

  • "People say I look like a goy because I'm blonde!"

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish
  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • גוי 'lit. nation; non-Jew'

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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Notes

  • plural goyim (גויים). "Goy" is used to refer to a non-Jew (esp. male), but the word simply means "nation" in Biblical Hebrew and in the Bible is used to indicate the Israelite nation, as well.

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