Dictionary

guinea en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɪni/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Guinea, the early modern name for West Africa, the coins originally being made of gold from the region, mostly from the 'Gold Coast' (modern Ghana) and used for African trade, and the guinea fowl being found there. Its use as an ethnic slur against Italians may be due to their darker complexion compared to people of Anglo-American descent.

Meanings

1. (UK, historical) A gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings.
   • English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of string or bits of spider's web, round pieces and square pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to wear them round your neck—nearly every variety of money in the world must, I think, have found a place in that collection... 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
   • However, since there are 488 pages in all for a bargain price of a guinea one must not be too carping. 1962 June, “New Reading on Railways: Locomotives of British Railways, by H. C. Casserley & L. Asher, Spring Books, 21s.”, in Modern Railways, page 432:
2. Synonym of guinea fowl.
   • The guineas peeped complainingly, the goslings waddled into all the puddles and came back to chill my skin. 1944, Emily Carr, “Brooding and Homing”, in The House of All Sorts:
3. (US, derogatory, ethnic, slang, slur) A person of Italian descent.
   • If I’m to tell the whole truth—and why not? I sure have the time!—I’ll have to start by saying I was born Richard Pinzetti, in New York’s Little Italy. My father was an Old World guinea. 1982, Stephen King, Survivor Type:

Forms

Deriveds

long-eared guinea pig · guinea worm · guinea piglet · guinea-fowl · guinea-pig · guinea-worm · gn. · guinea stand · guinea squash · guinea hen weed · guinea grains · helmeted guinea fowl · guinea pig director · guinea pig · guinea tee · guinea keet

Descendants

جنيه · guinea · gine · جُنَيْه · gini · gini

Synonyms

wop (person of Italian descent) · greaseball (person of Italian descent) · guido (person of Italian descent) · wog (person of Italian descent) · goombah (person of Italian descent) · dago (person of Italian descent) · Eyetie (person of Italian descent) · guinea fowl

Translations (20)

es guinea (coin worth 21 shillings) · hi गिनी (coin worth 21 shillings) · ast guinea (coin worth 21 shillings) · fi guinea (coin worth 21 shillings) · fr guinée (coin worth 21 shillings) · de Guinee (coin worth 21 shillings) · gu ગીની (coin worth 21 shillings) · cmn 堅尼 /坚尼 (coin worth 21 shillings) · ko 기니 (coin worth 21 shillings) · it ghinea (coin worth 21 shillings) · gd gini (coin worth 21 shillings) · ja ギニー (coin worth 21 shillings) · bg гвинея (coin worth 21 shillings) · pt guinéu (coin worth 21 shillings) · ar جُنَيْه (coin worth 21 shillings) · pl gwinea (coin worth 21 shillings) · ga gine (coin worth 21 shillings) · ru гине́я (coin worth 21 shillings) · mi kini (coin worth 21 shillings) · cy gini (coin worth 21 shillings)