hoy en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /hɔɪ/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from German Heu or Dutch gooi.
Meanings
-
A small coaster vessel, usually sloop-rigged, used in conveying passengers and goods, or as a tender to larger vessels in port.
Oh, sea-sickness! thou cream of miseries—thou ocean-purgatory!... how presumptuous would it be in me to essay a description of thee, when so many better qualified have failed in the attempt, from the early voyager per hoy to Margate and Ramsgate, to the bolder spirits of more recent times, who, leaving the pleasant sounds of Bow bells, recklessly brave the dangers of a transit to Calais and Boulogne!
1840 November, Francis John Bellew, The Asiatic Journal..., New Series, Vol. XXXIII, No. 131, p. 198The hoy went to London every week.
1779 July, William Cowper, letter to the Rev. William UnwinHe sent to Germanie, straunge aid to reare, From whence eftsoones arriued here three hoyes Of Saxons, whom he for his safetie imployes.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:Alderman Johnson condemns the Reform Act, and is for going backward, in all things, to the good times. Punch humbly suggests that every man who votes for the Crab Alderman should be punished as follows:— The said voter never to be permitted to travel by rail, but to journey to York or elsewhere by the very slowest coach. Never to go to Margate by steamboat, but to take three days to the voyage, per hoy. Never to send a letter by penny-post, but to pay 10d. or 13d., as the case may be—the good old price of the good old times.
1847, “Vote for Alderman Johnson”, in Punch, volume XIII, page 40:Per packet per Hoy.
1590 May 31, George Carew, letter to William CecilThe out-fit is not a trifle: no lady can be landed there, under respectable circumstances throughout, for less than five hundred pounds... [Visiting India] is not like a trip, per hoy, to Margate, where nothing but a well-lined purse is requisite...
1810, Thomas Williamson, The East India Vade-Mecum, pages 453-454:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hoys | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
powder hoy · hoyman · anchor-hoy
Translations (3)
fr heu (small coaster vessel) · it hoy (small coaster vessel) · nl heude (small coaster vessel)