hobo
UK[ˈhəʊ.bəʊ]US[ˈhoʊ.boʊ]
n
a person who travels from place to place in search of work, often living in poverty and sometimes begging
n
a migratory worker; a tramp
Etymology
the origin of 'hobo' is obscure, with several plausible but unproven theories emerging in late 19th-century american english. one popular hypothesis suggests it derives from a greeting, "ho, boy!" or the railroad call "ho, beau!". another theory connects it to the post-american civil war term for a migrant farmworker, possibly from "hoe-boy," indicating one who uses a hoe. despite its uncertain roots, the word solidified in usage to specifically denote a traveling, often seasonal worker, distinct from a tramp (who travels but does not seek work) or a bum (who neither travels nor works), capturing a particular figure in the socio-economic landscape of the industrializing united states.
Analysis
this word is considered a simplex loanword of uncertain etymology. it does not lend itself to segmentation into productive morphemes in modern english.
Examples
during the great depression, many men became hobos, riding freight trains across the country in search of any available work.
the old stories often romanticize the life of a hobo, but the reality was one of hardship and uncertainty.
he claimed to be a hobo, not a beggar, always willing to do a day's labor for a meal.