buoy

C2 Topic:Maritime & Sailing

US /ˈbu.i/ UK /ˈbɔɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #19254

Meanings

1

verb
to mark with a buoy or other sea-borne marker

We buoyed the spot where the ship sank.
2

verb
to float on the surface of water

I buoyed with the help of my life vest.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with buoy

buoy up Phrasal verb C2

to support someone's spirits and make them feel more hopeful

Thesaurus

Synonyms

floater

Word family

Forms buoyedbuoyingbuoys

Derived forms buoyagebuoyancy buoyantbuoylikelife-buoylifebuoysonobuoyupbuoy

Related forms buoyant buoyancy

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

buoy up
to support someone's spirits and make them feel more hopeful

Verb + adverb

Etymology

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”), from Proto-Germanic *baukną. Doublet of beacon. 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, “o...

boy Middle English boeye Middle Dutch boue Old French *baukn frk *baukną Proto-Germanic buie Old French boia Latin βόεος Ancient Greek *gʷṓws Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Maritime & Sailing Transportation Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# buoy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈbu.i/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbɔɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 19254

## Meanings
1. to mark with a buoy or other sea-borne marker
2. to float on the surface of water

## Examples
- We buoyed the spot where the ship sank.
- I buoyed with the help of my life vest.

## Synonyms
- floater

## Derived Forms
- buoyage
- buoyancy
- buoyant
- buoylike
- life-buoy
- lifebuoy
- sonobuoy
- upbuoy

## Related Forms
- buoyant
- buoyancy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: boy
- Root: boeye
- Root: boue
- Root: *baukn
- Root: *baukną
- Root: buie
- Root: boia
- Root: βόεος
- Root: *gʷṓws

## Etymology
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”), from Proto-Germanic *baukną. Doublet of beacon. 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, “o...

## Topics
- Maritime & Sailing
- Transportation
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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