guess
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English gessen, probably of Scandinavian origin, from Old Danish getse, gitse, getsa (“to guess”), from Old Norse *getsa, *gitsa, from Proto-Germanic *gitisōną (“to guess”), from Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to get”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Danish gisse (“to guess”), Swedish gissa (“to guess”), Dutch gissen (“to guess”), Low German gissen (“to guess”). Related also to Icelandic giska ("to guess"; from Proto-Germanic *gitiskōną). Compare also Russian гадать (gadatʹ, “to conjecture, guess, divine”), Albanian gjëzë (“riddle”) from gjej (“find, recover, obtain”). More at get.
Verb[edit]
guess (third-person singular simple present guesses, present participle guessing, simple past and past participle guessed)
- To reach a partly (or totally) unqualified conclusion.
- To solve by a correct conjecture; to conjecture rightly.
- He who guesses the riddle shall have the ring.
- (chiefly US) to suppose (introducing a proposition of uncertain plausibility).
- That album is quite hard to find, but I guess you could try ordering it online.
- Shakespeare
- Not all together; better far, I guess, / That we do make our entrance several ways.
- Alexander Pope
- But in known images of life I guess / The labour greater.
-
1914–1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear:
- "Are you a member of the union?"
"Sure."
"Then you'll get your job, I guess. Have you any friends?"
- "Are you a member of the union?"
- (obsolete) To hit upon or reproduce by memory.
- Shakespeare
- Tell me their words, as near as thou canst guess them.
- Shakespeare
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- foreguess
- guess what
- guessable
- guesser
- guessing game
- guesstimate
- guesswork
- keep someone guessing
- no prize for guessing
- out-guess
- second-guess
- you'll never guess
Translations[edit]
to reach an unqualified conclusion
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to solve by a correct conjecture
to suppose
Etymology 2[edit]
From Middle English gesse. Cognate with Dutch gis (“a guess”).
Noun[edit]
guess (plural guesses)
- A prediction about the outcome of something, typically made without factual evidence or support.
- If you don't know the answer, take a guess.
-
1907, L. Frank Baum, Ozma of Oz:
- "But I shall have eleven guesses," answered Ozma. "Surely I ought to guess one object in eleven correctly; and, if I do, I shall rescue one of the royal family and be safe myself. Then the rest of you may attempt it, and soon we shall free all those who are enslaved."
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- another-guess
- anyone's guess
- by guess or by gosh
- educated guess
- guesswork
- guesstimate
- otherguess
- take a guess
- your guess is as good as mine
Translations[edit]
prediction about the outcome of something
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External links[edit]
- guess in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- guess in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Categories:
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Danish
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- American English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
