Where does “batty boy” come from?
batty boy (English) comes from English batty, from English bat, from French bât, from Old French bast, from Vulgar Latin bastum, from Latin bastāre, from Ancient Greek βαστάζω — to lift, lift up, raise; to bear, carry; to carry...
batty boy (English): A homosexual man
Definitions
- A homosexual man
Ancestry of “batty boy”, step by step
batty boy traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English batty
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | batty | Mad, crazy, silly; Belonging to, or resembling, a... |
| 2 | English | bat | Any of the flying mammals of the order... |
| 3 | French | bât | packsaddle |
| 4 | Old French | bast | packsaddle |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | bastum | A stick |
| 6 | Latin | bastāre | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | βαστάζω | to lift, lift up, raise; to bear, carry; to carry... |
via English boy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | boy | A young male; A male child: a son of any age; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | boye | servant, commoner, knave, boy |
| 3 | Old English | bōia | boy |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | bōjô | younger brother, young male relation |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | bō- | A stem meaning "father, brother, close male... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰā- | to say |