Word.ws English Dictionary

guinea

/ˈɡɪni//ˈɡɪni/

guinea noun: a gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings.

Noun

guinea (plural guineas)

  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...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
    Synonyms:
    guinea fowl
  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

Proper noun capitalized: Guinea

Guinea

  1. (historical) The coastal region of West Africa between Morocco and the Congo, particularly the north shore of the Gulf of Guinea.
  2. A country in West Africa. Official name: Republic of Guinea.
    • Among the frontrunners before the conclave began were Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines; Péter Erdő, a traditionalist from Hungary; Robert Sarah, a cardinal from Guinea who criticised Francis’s papacy; and the moderate US cardinal...2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian
  3. (US, derogatory, ethnic, slang, slur) Alternative letter-case form of guinea, an Italian.

guinea meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

guinea in Hindi

coin worth 21 shillings
गिनी ginī

guinea in Tamil

கினியா, கினியாவை, கின்யா

guinea in Marathi

गिनी, गिनिया

guinea in Urdu

گنی, گینیہ
More languagesFewer languages
guinea in Bengali
গিনি, গিনিয়া, গুইনিয়া
guinea in Telugu
గినియా, గినియ
guinea in Malayalam
ഗിനിയ, ഗിനിയാ, ഗിനി
guinea in Kannada
ಗಿನಿಯಾ, ಗಿನಿ, ಗಿನಿಯ
guinea in Punjabi
ਗਿਨੀ, ਗਿੰਨੀਆ
guinea in Gujarati
ગીની gīnī
guinea in Odia
ଗିନି, ଗିନିଆ
guinea in Nepali
गिनी, गिनिया, गिनिआ
guinea in Arabic
جُنَيْه junayh

Examples of guinea in a sentence

  • He became a human guinea pig and was paid by the company.
  • The turkeys are out of stock but we have some guinea fowl in the back.
  • Technically, a guinea pig is not a pig, nor is it from Guinea.

All 40 example sentences with guinea

Synonyms of guinea

All synonyms of guinea

Forms of guinea

pluralguineas

Plural of guinea: guineas

Origin of guinea

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.

From Portuguese Guiné + -ia, the first part of which is of uncertain origin.

Words formed from guinea

Phrases with guinea

24 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with guinea

11 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about guinea

What does guinea mean?
Guinea means a gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings.
What is guinea in Hindi?
Guinea in Hindi is गिनी (ginī). See Guinea meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is guinea?
Guinea can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce guinea?
Guinea is pronounced /ˈɡɪni/.
What is the plural of guinea?
The plural of guinea is guineas.

Words near guinea in the dictionary

  1. guindillas
  2. Guindon
  3. Guindons
  4. Guindulman
  5. Guindulungan
  6. guinea
  7. Guinea arrowroot
  8. Guinea corn
  9. Guinea deer
  10. guinea fowl
  11. guinea fowls

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: guinea (page history and authors); Guinea (page history and authors); guinea (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); guinea (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-guinea.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Soundguys-Guinea.wav, En-us-Guinea.ogg.

Cite this entry: “guinea.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/guinea. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.