Plural of goy; non-Jewish people in Yiddish or Hebrew contexts.
From Hebrew goi (plural goyim), meaning 'nation' or 'people,' originally used to describe non-Israelite nations. The term entered Yiddish and English and shifted from a neutral geographical descriptor to a more specific religious-cultural designation.
The word 'goy' comes from the same Hebrew root that gave us 'Goyim' in religious texts, but its connotation changed over time from simply meaning 'other nations' to a specific in-group/out-group marker in Jewish communities. Language reveals how groups see themselves relative to others.
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