The Dutch settlements in North America all came under English rule in the 1660s and 1670s, but Dutch continued to be spoken in the region long afterward. In American English, the lexical heritage of the Dutch colonies includes dope, stoop (meaning “porch”), and Santa Claus. Perhaps the most pervasive Dutch loanword is boss, from the Dutch baas, meaning “master.” The word first appears in the form boss in 1806, used by Washington Irving. Part of its success seems to have resulted from an American aversion to master, which was common in British use.
Noun (1)
every morning the boss hands out a list of top-priority tasks Verb (1)
she bossed that project for years, until she was promoted again bossed the entire job site for a yearbossed the entire gang of electricians on the construction projectAdjective
a boss new rock band
that's a really boss stereo you've got
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Speier's boss, California Congressman Leo Ryan, wanted to investigate reports of abuse in Jonestown, where some of his San Francisco-area constituents were living.—Christine Pelisek, Peoplemag, 17 June 2024 The defense notified Pryor, Deputy Chief Assistant State Attorney Regina Faulk, and Assistant State Attorney Christopher Killoran, Boutros’ boss, to appear in court for a hearing on Friday.—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 16 June 2024
Verb
Several frequent passengers described being bossed around and mishandled by rude or disinterested drivers.—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 June 2024 Dabney Coleman, the actor who bossed Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton around in the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, died at his home in Santa Monica on Thursday.—Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 17 May 2024
Adjective
Binning notes that Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of the Niles area, a former Traficant aide who won his ex-boss' congressional seat, was re-elected Tuesday by his smallest-ever margin, defeating GOP former state legislator Christina Hagan by 7.5 percentage points.—Sabrina Eaton, cleveland, 6 Nov. 2020 This excludes things like putting in legendaries for end of mission rewards or taking them out of non-boss chests.—Paul Tassi, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2021 See all Example Sentences for boss
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'boss.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
borrowed from Dutch baas "master, person in authority," earlier, "friend and master, head of a household," going back to Middle Dutch baes, used as a surname, of uncertain origin
Note:
Compare late Middle Low German bas "superintendent of dikes," Frisian baas "master," the latter perhaps a loanword from Dutch. A relationship with Old High German basa "father's sister," German Base, name for various female relatives, is very unlikely. — The word boss was borrowed in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from New York and New Jersey Dutch; as a name for a person in authority in Dutch it is already reported in New England in 1653—see citations in Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, and M. Mathews, Dictionary of Americanisms (though the alleged use by John Winthrop is most likely a misreading—see The Journal of John Winthrop 1630-1649 [Cambridge, 1996], p. 161). The adoption of Dutch long a as a rounded vowel is paralleled by dollar.
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