boo

Meaning

1. A loud exclamation intended to scare someone. Usually used when one has been hidden from the target, and then appears unexpectedly.
2. An exclamation used by a member of an audience, as at a stage play or sporting event, to indicate derision or disapproval.
3. A derisive shout of the word 'boo' made to indicate disapproval.
4. To shout extended boos derisively.
5. To shout extended boos at, as a form of disapproval or derision.
6. A close acquaintance or significant other.
7. Cannabis.
8. To make a sound characteristic of cattle; to moo.
9. A tail feather from an ostrich.
10. A community in Nacka, Stockholm, central Sweden.
11. A surname from Swedish
12. The Boko language.
13. A surname from Chinese
14. A surname from Korean
15. A surname from Dutch

Etymology / origin

From earlier (15c.) boh, coined to create a loud and startling sound. Compare Middle English bus! (“bang!”, interjection), Latin boō (“cry aloud, roar, shout”, verb), Ancient Greek βοάω (boáō, “shout”, verb).

Related words

Descendant words

• buu(Finnish) (bor)
• *pūkô(Proto-Germanic) (cog)

Sources

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