guinea
nouncommon in dialogue
- //ˈɡɪni//
Synonym of guinea fowl.
noun
- 1
historicalA gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings.
However, since there are 488 pages in all for a bargain price of a guinea one must not be too carping.
- 2
Synonym of guinea fowl.
The guineas peeped complainingly, the goslings waddled into all the puddles and came back to chill my skin.
- 3
slangA 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.
Etymology
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.
Forms
- plural
- guineas