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guinea pig

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: guineapig and guinea-pig

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Domestic guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)
Santa Catarina's guinea pig (Cavia intermedia)

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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The origin of "guinea" in "guinea pig" is uncertain. One theory is that the animals, which are originally from South America, were brought to Europe by way of Guinea, leading people to think they had originated there.[1] "Guinea" was also frequently used in English to refer generally to any far-off, unknown country, and so the name may simply be a colorful reference to the animal's foreignness.[2] Others believe "guinea" may be an alteration of the word coney (“rabbit”); guinea pigs were referred to as "pig coneys" in Edward Topsell's 1607 treatise on quadrupeds.[1]

The figurative sense of "experimental subject" was first used in the early 20th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which cites examples from 1913 and 1920.[3] It arouse from the once extensive usage of guinea pigs in scientific research since at least the 17th century, which had a peak in popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries, when they were part of groundbreaking germ-theory research and of orbital space flights.[4][5] Compare Italian cavia, Portuguese cobaia, and the latter's loans into French cobaye, Spanish cobaya, Romanian cobai, and Turkish kobay, all of which mean both "guinea pig" and "volunteer for lab experiment", with the latter often being the commoner sense.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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guinea pig (plural guinea pigs)

  1. Any tailless rodent of the genus Cavia, which have short ears and superficially resemble large hamsters.
    1. (especially) A domestic guinea pig, Cavia porcellus, often kept as a pet.
      Synonyms: (formal name) cavy, domestic cavy, domestic guinea pig
  2. (figuratively) A living experimental subject.
    Synonym: lab rat
    He became a human guinea pig and was paid by the company.
    • 1970, Larry Niven, Ringworld, page 115:
      [H]e spoke of the unwisdom of volunteering one's services as a guinea pig.
    • 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 112:
      My dad told me about his days in the Navy: He'd agreed to be a guinea pig in exchange for a shorter enlistment. They kept him awake for a week straight.
  3. (dated, slang) A professional company director, without time or real qualifications for the duties.
  4. (nautical, obsolete) A midshipman in the East India service; (by extension) a low-skilled or non-proficient seaman.
    • 1748, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random‎[3], page 183:
      A good seaman he is... none of your guinea-pigs.
    • 1779, Macintosh, Travels, quoted in Carey, Old Days, i. 73
      I promise you, to me it was no slight penance to be exposed during the whole voyage to the half sneering, satirical looks of the mates and guinea-pigs.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Sranan Tongo: dyinipi

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wagner, Joseph E.; Manning, Patrick J (1976), The Biology of the Guinea Pig, Academic Press, →ISBN
  2. ^ “Guinea pig definition and meaning”, in Collins Dictionary‎[1], Harper Collins, 31 August 2023 (last accessed)
  3. ^ “guinea pig, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2025.
  4. ^ Guerrini, Anita (2003), Experimenting with Humans and Animals, Johns Hopkins, →ISBN, pages 42, 98–104
  5. ^ Gray, Tara (1998), “A Brief History of Animals in Space”, in NASA History‎[2], National Aeronautics and Space Administration, retrieved 8 April 2025
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