Where does “Guinea” come from?
Guinea comes from Portuguese Guiné, a place name of uncertain ultimate origin.
Guinea (English): A gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings
Definitions
- A gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings
Ancestry of “Guinea”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portuguese | Guiné | Guinea |
| 2 | English | -ia | Used in forming names of countries, diseases,... |
| 3 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 4 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |