Dictionary

houseboy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhaʊsbɔɪ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (UK) audio

Etymology

From house + boy (“young male; (historical or offensive) non-white male servant regardless of age”).

Meanings

1. (historical) A young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times.
   • House servants are usually either Chinese or Tamil, the former predominating, especially in towns of any size. The domestic staff will in general consist of a houseboy (in large establishments two houseboys), a water carrier (tukang ayer), whose duties include washing dishes and preparing baths, a cook, a gardener, a chauffeur or sais, and perhaps an ayah (if Chinese, amah) or two, according to the size of the family. 1935, Ralph Lionel German, Handbook to British Malaya, 1935, [London]: [R. L. German]: Obtainable from the Malay Information Agency, Waterlow and Sons, →OCLC, page 50:
   • A married man with a family of three living in a private house will require in most cases a cook, houseboy, an amah (female servant) for washing and ironing, a second amah to take care of small children or infants, and one or possibly two gardeners depending on the size of the lot. A syce (chauffeur) is optional in each individual case. Cooks, houseboys, and amahs are usually Chinese, while gardeners and chauffeurs are Malay. 1949, Office of International Trade with Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, International Reference Service, volume 6, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 64:
2. (derogatory, historical, offensive) A non-white adult male domestic servant.

Forms

Coordinates

housegirl · housemaid

Hyponyms

Chinaboy

Relateds

house slave

Translations (14)

es mucamo (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · tpi hausboi (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · bg прислужник (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · ceb houseboy (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · ceb mutsatso (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · ja 家僕 (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · cmn 家僕 /家仆 (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · ceb atsoy (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · mk слу́га (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · ceb boy (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · tl alilà (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · mk и́змеќар (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · ceb muchacho (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times) · ha boyi (young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times)