guy
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
PIE word |
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*dwóh₁ |
Named after 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[edit]
guy (plural guys)
- (Britain) 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, W.M. Clark, p. 77:
- “But shan’t I look a guy?”
- “Not a bit of it. Jist the very kick!”
- 1865, Margaret Oliphant, Miss Marjoribanks, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, vol. 97, p. 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. S. Gilbert, The Mikado, “As Some Day It May Happen”:
- 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 2014, p. 138:
- Why are you so ashamed that her child saw you looking a guy, sprawled on the floor, spilling cakes?
- 1845, Henry Cockton, The Love Match, W.M. Clark, p. 77:
- (colloquial) A man, 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, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian, 9 March:
- 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) 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 to animals) character, personality (not referring to a person, but pretending to)
- The dog's left foreleg was broken, poor little guy.
- 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.
- 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?
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. 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.
- 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]
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
guy (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.
- 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin 2004, p. 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 2007, p. 187:
- Terry Kilmartin [...], applauded for every ‘um’ and ‘ah’, knew that he was being guyed and had the charm to make it funny.
- 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin 2004, p. 278:
- (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....
Etymology 2[edit]
From Old French guie, linked to verb guier (“guide”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“know”).
Noun[edit]
guy (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[edit]
Translations[edit]
Verb[edit]
guy (third-person singular simple present guys, present participle guying, simple past and past participle guyed)
Translations[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- guy at OneLook Dictionary Search
- “guy” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
guy m (plural guys, diminutive guytje n)
- (informal, chiefly Netherlands) guy
See also[edit]
Wolof[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Related to buy (“baobab fruit”).
Noun[edit]
guy (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 *dwóh₁
- 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 colloquialisms
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English informal terms
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Theater
- Old French terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- 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
- Dutch terms borrowed from English
- Dutch terms derived from English
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- Dutch informal terms
- Netherlands Dutch
- Dutch terms with usage examples
- Wolof lemmas
- Wolof nouns
- wo:Trees