posted November 01, 2008 12:14 PM            

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http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hoi+polloi

hoi polloi Look up hoi polloi at Dictionary.com
1837, from Gk. hoi polloi (pl.) "the people," lit. "the many" (pl. of polys). Used in Gk. by Dryden (1668) and Byron (1822), in both cases preceded by the, even though Gk. hoi means "the," a mistake repeated often by subsequent writers, who at least have the excuse of ignorance of Gk.

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http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hoi+polloi

hoi pol·loi (hoi p-loi)
n.
The common people; the masses.
[Greek, the many : hoi, nominative pl. of ho, the; see so- in Indo-European roots + polloi, nominative pl. of polus, many; see pel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: Hoi polloi is a borrowing of the Greek phrase hoi polloi, consisting of hoi, meaning "the" and used before a plural, and polloi, the plural of polus, "many." In Greek hoi polloi had a special sense, "the greater number, the people, the commonalty, the masses." This phrase has generally expressed this meaning in English since its first recorded instance, in an 1837 work by James Fenimore Cooper. Hoi polloi is sometimes incorrectly used to mean "the elite," possibly because it is reminiscent of high and mighty or because it sounds like hoity-toity.·Since the Greek phrase includes an article, some critics have argued that the phrase the hoi polloi is redundant. But phrases borrowed from other languages are often reanalyzed in English as single words. For example, a number of Arabic noun phrases were borrowed into English as simple nouns. The Arabic element al- means "the," and appears in English nouns such as alcohol and alchemy. Thus, since no one would consider a phrase such as "the alcohol" to be redundant, criticizing the hoi polloi on similar grounds seems pedantic.

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posted November 01, 2008 12:19 PM            

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http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hoy

hoy (plural hoys)

1. A small coaster vessel, usually sloop-rigged, used in conveying passengers and goods, or as a tender to larger vessels in port.

[edit] Etymology 2

From Dutch hui, compare ahoy.

[edit] Interjection

hoy

1. ho!, halloe!, stop!

[edit] Etymology 3
This entry lacks an etymology. If you are familiar with the origin of this word, please add it to the page as described here.

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to hoy

Third person singular
hoys

Simple past
hoyed

Past participle
hoyed

Present participle
hoyin

to hoy (third-person singular simple present hoys, present participle hoyin, simple past and past participle hoyed)

1. (Geordie) To throw.

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