Goy

Goy (pl. goyim or goys) is a term for a gentile, a non-Jew, sometimes in a pejorative sense. The word, of Hebrew origin, was adopted into English from Yiddish. It carries a similar meaning in Modern Hebrew. The Biblical Hebrew word goy has been commonly translated into English as 'nation', meaning a group of persons of the same ethnic family who speak the same language (rather than the more common modern meaning of a political unit). In the Bible, goy is used to describe both the Nation of Israel and other nations. The meaning of the word goy in Hebrew evolved to mean "non-Jew" in the Hellenistic (300 BCE to 30 BCE) and Roman periods, as both Rabbinical texts and then Christian theology placed increasing emphasis on a binary division between Jews and non-Jews. As a word principally used by Jews to describe non-Jews, it is a term for the ethnic out-group. In modern usage in English, the extent to which goy is derogatory is a point of discussion in the Jewish community. The word goy is sometimes used by white supremacists and antisemites to refer to themselves when signaling a belief in antisemitic tropes.