goy

Mane

Hevwate

Werger

Notes

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(Îngilîzî)

A non-Jew, a gentile.

Pircarînî

Wekî (IPA) tê bilêvkirin

/ɡɔɪ/

Borrowed from Yiddish גוי (goy, “gentile”), from Hebrew גּוֹי (goi, “nation”). Compare Exodus he:T:6: מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים וְגֹוי קָדֹושׁ (mamleḵeṯ kohănīm wəḡōy qāḏōš, “ […] a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”) (referring to the Jewish people). The word goy does not technically refer to non-Jews, but rather to a nation per se; the Jews are said to constitute a goy. But through common usage – namely referring to "the [other non-Jewish] nations" – the word came to colloquially refer to non-Jews.