boyar

Alternative forms

• boyard, bolyard

Etymology

From Russian боя́ре (bojáre), plural of боя́рин (bojárin).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔɪɑː/, /ˈbəʊjɑː/, /bəʊˈjɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Noun

boyar (plural boyars)

1. (historical) A member of a rank of aristocracy (second only to princes) in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia and Romania.
   • 1997, John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium, Penguin, published 1998, page 159:

     Boris had abdicated in 889, leaving the throne to his son Vladimir, who had immediately identified himself with the boyar aristocracy which Boris had done his utmost to crush.

   • 2007, John Darwin, After Tamerlane, Penguin, published 2008, page 68:

     A long series of wars was fought in the sixteenth century to keep Polish influence at bay in the West Russian lands, and prevent it from seducing Muscovy's restless boyars, the warrior-barons whose independence the grand dukes were determined to crush.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 514:

     some of his family looked to Orthodox Christianity to sustain them, and not only many of his boyars but most of his subjects were Orthodox Christians.

Anagrams

• baryo-

Adjective

boyar

1. amorous, full of love

References

• 1839, George Grey, Vocabulary of the Aboriginal Language of Western Australia (Perth gazette and Western Australian journal)

Etymology

From boya +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: bo‧yar

Verb

boyar (first-person singular present boyo, first-person singular preterite boyé, past participle boyado)

1. (intransitive) to float

Further reading

• “boyar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10