Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “guinea” come from?

Guinea comes from Portuguese Guiné, a name of uncertain origin applied to the West African region and later used for the coin.

guinea (English): A person of Italian descent; A gold coin...

Definitions

  1. A person of Italian descent; A gold coin...

Ancestry of “guinea”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishGuinea—
2PortugueseGuinéGuinea
3English-iaUsed in forming names of countries, diseases,...
4Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
5Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
6Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
7Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “guinea”

  • guinea
  • ghinea
  • guinée
  • Guinee
  • ギニー
  • gine
  • गिनी
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →