bod
UK[bɒd]US[bɑːd]
n
A person, especially a man.
n
A body, especially a human body.
Etymology
The word "bod" is a modern British English slang term, emerging in the 20th century as a direct shortening of the word "body." Its ultimate ancestor is the Old English word "bodig," meaning the trunk or torso of a person or animal. The semantic journey is straightforward, with the clipped form "bod" inheriting the core meaning of a physical form. Over time, particularly in informal British usage, it evolved a secondary, more general meaning referring simply to a person, often with a casual or slightly dismissive connotation, mirroring the way "body" was historically used to mean "person" (as in "anybody" or "somebody").
Analysis
The word is a simplex, a clipped form of the word "body". Its origin is from Middle English 'bod', a variant of 'body', which itself comes from Old English 'bodig' (trunk, chest, torso). The functional role is as a noun.
Examples
He's a decent bod, always willing to help.
She spends hours at the gym working on her bod.
A few unfamiliar bods turned up at the party.