buoy

Meaning

Noun

1. A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational channel or for other purposes
2. A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational channel or for other purposes
3. A sign where the non-dominant hand is held in a stationary configuration as a landmark for meaning associations with the dominant hand.

Verb

1. (transitive) To keep afloat or aloft; used with up.
2. (transitive) To support or maintain at a high level.
3. (transitive) To mark with a buoy.
4. To maintain or enhance enthusiasm or confidence; to lift the spirits of.

Synonyms

float

beacon

lifesaver

channel marker

buoy up

life belt

support

life preserver

rubber ring

buttress

confirm

dan

do well

drogue

endorse

espouse

floater

indorse

landmark

lifebelt

lifebuoy

life buoy

pay

💸

pay off

pontoon

rest

ride

second

2nd

shore

sponsor

spur

strut

substantiate

sustain

truss

uphold

waft

had best

life ring

be floating

float bowl

floating beacon

sea mark

floating mark

float rod

floating camel

floating pontoon

back

🔙

buoyancy pontoon

advocate

Translations

bouée

Boje

boa

boya

σημαδούρα

boei

balise

bóia

boia

baliza

gavitello

baken

Rettungsring

mit Bojen markieren

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbɔɪ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: boy

Cognate with French: bouée

In summary

From Middle English boy, boye, from Middle Dutch boeye (“float, buoy”), from Old French boue (“piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored”) (modern French bouée), ultimately from Frankish *baukn (“beacon”). Doublet of beacon. Same root as English bon in bonfire.
Alternatively, and perhaps less likely (due to the unexplained shift in meaning), from Middle Dutch boeye (“shackle, fetter”), from Old French buie (“fetter, chain”), from Latin boia (“a (leather) collar, band, fetter”), from Ancient Greek βόεος (bóeos), βόειος (bóeios, “of ox-hide”), from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”).
Sense 2 was coined by American linguist Scott K. Lindell in 2003.