boss

English

/bɒs/, /bɔs/, /bɑs/

noun
Definitions
  • A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
  • A person in charge of a business or company.
  • A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
  • The head of a political party in a given region or district.
  • (informal)
  • (video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.
  • (humorous) Wife.

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch, Flemish baas (boss, master) derived from Middle Dutch baes (master of a household, friend) derived from Old Dutch *baso (kinsman, uncle) derived from Proto-Germanic *baswô, *baswǭ (father's sister, aunt, cousin, paternal aunt).

Origin

Proto-Germanic

*baswǭ

Gloss

father's sister, aunt, cousin, paternal aunt

Concept
Semantic Field

Kinship

Ontological Category

Person/Thing

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms