Roy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A male given name of French origin meaning "king" and used as a personal identifier for individuals
2. A proper noun used as a first name for males, derived from a term signifying sovereignty or monarchic status
3. A personal designation primarily assigned to males, originating from a word associated with royal authority and leadership

Etymology: "Roy" as a given name in English comes from the Old French "roi," meaning "king," which reached Middle English as "roy" or "roye." The name carries the sense of royalty directly in its root: a boy named Roy was, in effect, named "king." The same Latin ancestor, "rex," produced a whole family of cognates, and "rajah" in Sanskrit and "rich" in English are doublets of it, having come into the language by different routes but from the same source. Few people using the name today would connect it to a royal title, since it has long been a conventional given name rather than a word in everyday use. Its origin still shows in the way it was chosen: the name was borrowed into English as a plain word for king and only later settled into use as a personal name for males.

Synonyms: king, monarch, ruler

Antonyms: commoner, subject