"G" Word Origins

Guatemala

Spanish

From Spanish, ultimately from a Nahuatl word roughly meaning "place of the woodpile," originally the name of an earlier capital.

guava

Spanish

From Spanish guayaba, from a Taíno word.

gubbins

Origin

Ante 1553. From gobbin (“piece, portion, slice”), from Middle English goboun, from Anglo-Norman gobon. Compare with English gobony (“line of alternating squares”).

gubernatorial

Latin

From Latin gubernator 'steersman, governor', from gubernare 'to steer', itself from Greek kybernan.

Gucci

Italian

Named after Guccio Gucci, the Italian founder of the fashion house.

guck

Origin

Blend of goose + duck.

gudgeon

Origin

The noun is derived from Late Middle English gojoun [and other forms], from Old French gojon, goujon (“gudgeon”), from Late Latin gōbiōnem, the accusative of gōbiō, the augmentative of Latin gōbius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβῐός (kōbĭós, “fish of the gudgeon kind”), probably of Semitic origin. The English word is a doublet of goby and goujon. The verb is derived from the noun.

guelph

Origin

From Italian guelfo, from Middle High German Welf, a Bavarian dynasty. Welf II, Duke of Bavaria, inherited from his Italian wife, the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, possessions including Tuscany, Ferrara, Modena, Mantua and Reggio, which played a role in the Investiture Controversy. The Welf dynasty sided with the Pope in this controversy, so partisans of the Pope became known in Italy as Guelfi.

guenon

Origin

Borrowed from French guenon (“female monkey or ape”).

guerdon

Origin

From Middle English guerdon, guerdoun, gardone, from Old French guerdon, guerredon, guarredon, werdon, from Medieval Latin widerdōnum, alteration of widerlōnum, from West Germanic (whence Old High German widarlōn, Old English wiþerlēan), literally ‘back-payment’, with the second element assimilated to Latin dōnum (“gift”).

Guerrero

Spanish

From Spanish guerrero, "warrior."

guerrilla

Spanish

From Spanish guerrilla, "little war," a diminutive of guerra ("war"), coined during Spain's fight against Napoleon.

guerrillera

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish guerrillera.

guess

Middle English

From Middle English gessen, likely of Scandinavian origin, related to Old Norse words for "to get" or "to seize" — the idea of grabbing at an answer.

guessing

Middle English

From Middle English gessyng, gessynge, equivalent to guess + -ing.

guesstimate

Origin

Blend of guess + estimate.

guesswork

Origin

From guess + work.

guest

Old English

From Old Norse gestr, merging with an Old English word, both from a very old root shared with "host" and "hospitality."

guesthouse

Old English

From guest + house, with roots in both Old English and Old Norse compound words for the same idea.

Guevara

Spanish

Borrowing from Spanish Guevara, from Basque.

Guggenheim

German

A Jewish surname originally from towns in Alsace or Hesse, Germany, combined with the Old High German word for "home."

guggle

Origin

From gurgle.

gugu

Origin · 1900

A variant of "goo-goo," a slur used by American soldiers in the Philippines in the early 20th century.

Gui

Chinese

Romanization (Hanyu Pinyin) of the Mandarin pronunciation of the Chinese character 媯/妫 (Guī).

guidance

Origin

From "guide" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ance."

guide

Old French

From Middle English guide, via Old French guider and Old Occitan guidar, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to show the way."

guideline

Origin

From guide + line.

guidepost

Origin

From guide + post.

Guido

Italian

From the Italian given name Guido; a doublet of "Guy."

guild

Middle English

From Middle English gilde, from Old Norse gildi ("payment, guild"), related to "yield."

guilder

Origin

From Middle Dutch gulden (“golden”).

guile

Old French

From Old French guile ("deception"), ultimately from a Frankish word for "ruse," related to "wile."

guileful

Origin

From Middle English gileful, gilful, equivalent to guile + -ful.

Guillaume

French

French form of the Germanic name that also gives us William and Wilhelm.

guillemet

Origin

From French guillemet, diminutive form of the name Guillaume (“William”), named after French typecutter Guillaume Le Bé (1525–1598) who supposedly invented the marks.

guillotine

French · 1700

Named after the French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, who proposed its use for executions in the late 18th century.

guilt

Old English

From Old English gylt ("guilt, offense, crime"), of uncertain further origin.

guilt trip

Origin

From guilt + trip. First use appears c. 1972 in the novel Any Minute I Can Split by Judith Rossner.

guiltiness

Origin

From Middle English giltines; equivalent to guilty + -ness.

guiltless

Origin

From Middle English giltles, gultles, gyltles, from Old English *gyltlēas, equivalent to guilt + -less. Compare Old English sċyldlēas (“guiltless”).

guilty

Old English

From Old English gyltiġ ("offending, guilty"), from guilt plus the adjective suffix "-y."

guimpe

Origin

From French guimpe, from Middle French guimpe, from Old French guimple (“wimple”), from Frankish *wimpil, *wimpila (“head scarf”), from Proto-Germanic *wimpilaz, from *wīpaną ("to wind, sling, garland, swing"; from Proto-Indo-European *wimb-, *weyb- (“to turn, rotate”)) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix). Cognate with Old High German wimpal and winfila (“head scarf”), Middle Dutch wumpel (“cap”), Old English wimpel, winpel (“wimple”), Old Norse vimpill (“hood, veil”). Also influenced by Old French guimpre (“a kind of trimming”), from the same Germanic source. More at wimple.

guinea

Origin

Named after Guinea, the old term for West Africa, where the gold used to mint the coin originally came from.

Guinevere

Middle English

From Middle English Gwenyver; a doublet of "Jennifer."

Guinness

Irish · 1759

Named after Arthur Guinness, the Irish brewer who first produced the stout in Dublin in 1759.

guise

Old French

From Old French guise ("manner, way"), from a Frankish word meaning "manner" or "fashion"; related to "wise."

guitar

Ancient Greek

From Spanish guitarra, from Arabic qīṯāra, ultimately from Ancient Greek kithara; a doublet of "cithara" and "zither."

guitarist

Origin

From "guitar" plus the agent suffix "-ist."