toy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An object for children to play with.

   The little boy left his toys all over the floor.

2. 2
   noun

   Something expensive that gives someone pleasure or amusement.

   His new sports car is just a rich man's toy.

3. 3
   noun

   A small model or copy of something real.

   The children cooked an imaginary meal on their toy stove.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Toy is a medieval word of otherwise unknown origin. It first denoted a funny story or remark and later a prank, trick, or frivolous entertainment. Its now usual sense, an object for a child to play with, dates from the late 16th century.

Inherited from Middle English toye (“amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment”), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (“tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament”) as in Dutch speel-tuig (“plaything, toy”), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-West Germanic *tiugī̆, *teug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (“stuff, matter, device, gear, lever”, literally “that which is drawn or pulled”), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with Dutch tuig (“thing”), German Zeug (“stuff”), Danish tøj (“stuff”), Icelandic tygi, Norwegian tøy (“equip…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary