goy

Meaning

Noun

• A non-Jew, a gentile.

Origin

• Borrowed from Yiddish גוי ("gentile"), from Hebrew גּוֹי ("nation").
• (referring to the Jewish people). The word goy technically refers not to non-Jews, but rather to a nation per se; the Jews are said to constitute a “goy”. But through common usage – namely referring to "the [other non-Jewish] nations" – the word came to colloquially refer to non-Jews.