Boss,

a master, is the Dutch baas, head of the household. Hence the great man, chief, a masher, a swell.

“Mr. Stead calls Mr. OʹConnor the ‘Boss of the House.ʹ”

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Borrow
Borrowed days of February (The)
Borrowed days of March
Bortell
Bos[ei] in lingua
Bosh
Bosky
Bosom Friend (A)
Bosom Sermons
Bosphorus=Ox ford
Boss
Bossum
Bostal
Botanomancy
Botany
Botch
Bother
Bothie System
Botley Assizes
Bottes
Bottle