guy
English
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editPIE word |
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*h₁weydʰh₁- |
Coined by semantic widening from the name of Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), an English Catholic executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, from Old French Gui, a form of Proto-Germanic *Wido, a short form of names beginning with the element witu "wood" from Proto-Germanic *widuz, such as Witold and Widukind. Cognate with Italian Guido.
Noun
editguy (plural guys)
- (British) An effigy of a man burned on a bonfire on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot (5th November).
- (dated) A person of eccentric appearance or dress; a "fright".
- 1845, Henry Cockton, The Love Match, Clark: W.M, page 77:
- “But shan’t I look a guy?”
“Not a bit of it. Jist the very kick!”
- 1865, Margaret Oliphant, “Miss Marjoribanks”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume 97, page 316:
- I am always a perfect guy, whatever I wear, when I sit against a red curtain. You mean say that a woman always knows when she’s good-looking, but I am happy to say I know when I look a guy.
- 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “As Some Day It May Happen”, in […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC:
- And the lady from the provinces, who dresses like a guy,
And who “doesn’t think she dances, but would rather like to try” […].
- 1978, Jane Gardam, God on the Rocks, Abacus, published 2014, page 138:
- Why are you so ashamed that her child saw you looking a guy, sprawled on the floor, spilling cakes?
- (colloquial) A man or boy; a fellow.
- Synonyms: dude, fella, homey, bro, bloke, chap; see also Thesaurus:man
- Coordinate terms: gal, broad, dame, girl, jane, woman, bird, chick
- 1873, ‘Mark Twain’, The Gilded Age:
- “You don't say so? I thought he was some guy from Pennsylvania.”
- 2007, Manook Sarkisyan, Jack and the Journey through Time, page 219:
- "Hi, guys. Did you have a fun time at school?" said Katherine.
"Yeah we did," said Stacy.
- 2014, Joel Williamson, Elvis Presley: A Southern Life[1]:
- She was one of the guys, but they were also very much aware that she was an attractive young woman.
- 2016 March 9, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian:
- Let’s be honest. “Have I kissed too many guys?” is not a question that mature, sexually active women are likely to be asking Google.
- (especially in the plural, often controversial) A person (see usage notes).
- 2009, Carole McCaskill, WHAT COLOR IS MY RIBBON? : An Ovarian Cancer Success Story[2]:
- My “Guys” actually constitute a collection of people that range from my nearest and dearest girlfriends, my immediate and extended family, co-workers and acquaintances that care.
- 2010, Meg Blackburn Losey, The Secret History of Consciousness: Ancient Keys to our Future Survival[3]:
- My “guys,” as I call the group, are loving and hilarious, serious and the epitome of love. They are both male and female in their presence and have never had the experience of inhabiting a physical body—they are beings of light.
- (colloquial, usually referring to animals) Character, personality (not referring to an actual person, but assigning personality to the referent)
- The dog's left foreleg was broken, poor little guy.
- 2011, Richard S. Stripp Sr., Mommy, I Wish I Could Tell You What They Did To Me In School Today[4]:
- I just want to play with my guys. My guys are my friends, they're stuffed animals or little action figures I have a lot of them.
- (informal, term of address) Buster, Mack, fella, bud, man.
- Hey, guy, give a man a break, would ya?
- (colloquial) Thing, item (term that can be used to refer to any entity)
- This guy, here, controls the current, and this guy, here, measures the voltage.
- This guy is the partial derivative of that guy with respect to x.
Usage notes
edit- In plural, guys may not be completely gender-neutral, but it may refer to people of any gender in some circumstances and forms; the greeting “Hey guys”, or any vocative utterance, can generally refer to people of any gender (although this use can be controversial). Referring to a group as “guys” often means a group of men or a mixed-gender group, though usage among American youth may even refer to groups of only women.
- When used of animals, guy usually refers to either a male or one whose gender is not known; it is rarely if ever used of an animal that is known to be female. The matching term for a female is gal.
- In some varieties of US and Canadian English, you guys revives the distinction between a singular and plural you, much like y'all or yous in other varieties; in this sense, guys may be used for groups of any combination of genders. Cf. usage notes at you guys.
Derived terms
edit- as the next guy
- bad guy
- big guy
- cable guy
- cis-guy
- cis guy
- divorced guy energy
- don't be that guy
- fall guy
- fall-guy
- family guy
- good guy
- go-to guy
- guy code
- guy friend
- guy-friend
- guy line
- guy-wire
- I'm a guy
- I'm a trans guy
- little guy
- my guy
- nice guy
- nice guys finish last
- nice guy syndrome
- one guy
- pizza guy
- regular guy
- reply guy
- should see the other guy
- stand-up guy
- ten for the big guy
- that guy
- tough-guy
- tough guy
- trans guy
- wife guy
- wise guy
- wise-guy
- you guys
Translations
edit
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Verb
editguy (third-person singular simple present guys, present participle guying, simple past and past participle guyed)
- (intransitive) To exhibit an effigy of Guy Fawkes around the 5th November.
- (transitive) To make fun of, to ridicule with wit or innuendo.
- 1905, Edward S. Ellis, Deerfoot in The Mountains[5]:
- The dusky hunters "guyed" the palefaces who could not do as well as they with their primitive weapons, even though the fire spouted from the iron tubes and the balls that could not be seen by the eye carried death farther than did the missiles launched by the natives.
- 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 2004, page 278:
- Swift and other satirists mercilessly guyed the unlettered self-importance of the peddlars of such soul-food, exposing their humility and self-laceration as an egregious and obnoxious form of self-advertisement (s'excuser, c'est s'accuser).
- 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 187:
- Terry Kilmartin [...], applauded for every ‘um’ and ‘ah’, knew that he was being guyed and had the charm to make it funny.
- (theater, transitive) To play in a comedic manner.
- 2000, John Southworth, Shakespeare the Player:
- To guy the speech in the manner of an old-fashioned 'ham' for cheap laughs....
References
edit- Guy Fawkes created the word guy, Adam Taylor, Nov 5, 2013, Business insider.
Etymology 2
editFrom Old French guie, linked to verb guier (“guide”), from Frankish *wītan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“know”). Cognate with English guide.
Noun
editguy (plural guys or (nonstandard) guies)
- (obsolete, rare) A guide; a leader or conductor.
- (chiefly nautical) A support rope or cable used to aid in hoisting or lowering.
- (chiefly nautical) A support to secure or steady structures prone to shift their position or be carried away (e.g. the mast of a ship or a suspension bridge).
Holonyms
edit- (nautical): cordage
Derived terms
editTranslations
editVerb
editguy (third-person singular simple present guys, present participle guying, simple past and past participle guyed)
Translations
editSee also
editReferences
edit- “guy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “guy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
editDutch
editEtymology
editNoun
editguy m (plural guys, diminutive guytje n)
See also
editWolof
editEtymology
editRelated to buy (“baobab fruit”).
Pronunciation
editAudio: (file)
Noun
editguy (definite form guy gi)
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪ
- Rhymes:English/aɪ/1 syllable
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₁weydʰh₁-
- English eponyms
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- English dated terms
- English terms with quotations
- English colloquialisms
- English terms with usage examples
- English informal terms
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Theater
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Nautical
- English terms of address
- en:Male
- en:People
- English three-letter words
- Dutch terms borrowed from English
- Dutch terms derived from English
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- Dutch slang
- Dutch terms with usage examples
- Wolof terms with audio links
- Wolof lemmas
- Wolof nouns
- wo:Trees