Bobby

How to spell bobby

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bobby

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bobby mean?

1. nounAn informal British term for a police officer, especially one on foot patrol.

Bobby in a sentence

• A friendly bobby directed the lost tourists back to the station.

• The village relied on a single bobby to keep order on market day.

Where does bobby come from?

Language of origin: Other

This word is one of the rare cases where an ordinary noun is built straight from a person's name. It honours Sir Robert Peel, the British Home Secretary who created the Metropolitan Police Force in London in 1829. Because Bobby is the affectionate short form of the name Robert, Londoners began calling the new constables 'bobbies', much as the same officers were earlier nicknamed 'peelers' after Peel's surname. The word settled into everyday British English through the middle of the nineteenth century and has stayed gently informal and friendly ever since. The doubled b, which is the only real spelling snag, simply mirrors the doubled b already present in the familiar nickname Bobby.

How the word is built

• Bobby (pet form of the name Robert)
• -y (familiar diminutive ending)