Link Centre Dictionary

guinea

gui·nea

UK/ˈɡɪni/ US/ˈɡɪni/ fairly common slang uk us

noun

1.

a former British gold coin worth 21 shillings

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • guinea grains
  • guinea hen weed
  • guinea keet
  • guinea pig
  • guinea pig director
  • guinea piglet
  • guinea squash
  • guinea stand

Related words

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.