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guin·ea

(gĭnē)

a. A gold coin issued in England from 1663 to 1813 and worth one pound and one shilling.

b. The sum of one pound and one shilling.

2. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person of Italian birth or descent.

[After the Guinea coast of Africa, the source of the gold from which it was first made. Sense 2, probably from obsolete American English Guinea, enslaved African from the Guinea region, short for obsolete Guinea negro (Sicilian and Southern Italian immigrants to the United States perhaps being so called because their complexions were considered darker than those of northern European immigrants, and because the general status of Italian immigrants in American society was originally low).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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