English
boo
From earlier (15c.) boh, coined to create a loud and startling sound.
The story
From earlier (15c.) boh, coined to create a loud and startling sound.
Another origin of boo
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewh₂-‘to fit’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos‘good’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos
- Old Latin, derivedc. 700–75 BCE*duenelosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellus‘beautiful, pretty, handsome’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400biau
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600beau‘beautiful’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbeau‘handsome, fine, attractive’
- Englishtodayboo
First appears c. 1988 in the Washington Post: See the cite below.
Another origin of boo
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbeau‘beautiful’uncertain
- Englishtodayboo
Today it means
intj A loud exclamation intended to scare someone. Usually used when one has been hidden from the target, and then appears unexpectedly.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / boo