Toy

How to spell toy

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce toy

What does toy mean?

1. nounA small object designed for children to play with.
2. verbTo handle or consider something idly, without serious intent.

Toy in a sentence

• noun

  The toddler refused to share a single toy at the party.

• verb

  She would often toy with her food when she was anxious.

• noun

  Every toy in the shop window was on sale before the holidays.

• verb

  They began to toy with the idea of moving abroad.

Where does toy come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

The origins of 'toy' are genuinely murky, which is why scholars hedge their bets. It surfaces in Middle English around the 1300s as 'toye', where it first meant something like an amorous dalliance, a piece of foolery, or an idle trifle rather than a child's plaything. Only later, by the 1500s and 1600s, did it settle into the familiar sense of a small object made for amusement, especially for children. Many etymologists suspect a link to the Dutch 'tuig', meaning gear, tools, or odds and ends, with a related Middle Dutch sense of trash or trifling stuff, though the connection cannot be proven. The verb 'to toy', meaning to handle or treat something idly, grew straight out of these earlier playful and trifling meanings. Because the word is short and its spelling is fully regular, the historical fog around its source has left no awkward letters behind.

How the word is built

• toy (single root, of uncertain origin; no prefix or suffix)