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1719 entries found
gutsy (adj.)
"tough, plucky," 1893, from guts + -y (2). Earlier it meant "greedy" (1803).
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gutta-percha (n.)
1845, from Malay (Austronesian) getah percha, literally "the gum of percha," the name of the tree; the form of the word was influenced by Latin gutta "drop." As the name of the tree itself, from 1860.
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gutter (n.)
late 13c., "watercourse, water drainage channel along the side of a street," from Anglo-French gotere, Old French guitere, goutiere "gutter, spout" of water (12c., Modern French gouttière), from goute "a drop," from Latin gutta "a drop" (see gout). Meaning "furrow made by running water" is from 1580s. Meaning "trough under the eaves of a roof to carry off rainwater" is from mid-14c. Figurative sense of "low, profane" is from 1818. In printers' slang, from 1841.
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gutter (v.)
late 14c., "to make or run in channels" (transitive), from gutter (n.). Intransitive use, in reference to candles (1706) it is from the channel that forms as the molten wax flows off. Related: Guttered; guttering.
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guttersnipe (n.)
also gutter-snipe, 1857, from gutter (n.) + snipe (n.); originally Wall Street slang for "streetcorner broker," attested later (1869) as "street urchin," also "one who gathers rags and paper from gutters." As a name for the common snipe, it dates from 1874 but is perhaps earlier.
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guttural (adj.)
"pertaining to the throat," 1590s, from Middle French guttural, from Latin guttur "throat, gullet," perhaps expressive of throat-noises. "Note that gula, glut- and gurgulio also refer to the 'throat' and 'swallowing', and also contain g(l)u-. Guttur may belong to this same family, which has no PIE etymology" [de Vaan]. The noun, in linguistics, is from 1690s.
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guv (n.)
1890, shortening of guvner, casual British pronunciation of governor as a title of respect.
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guy (n.1)
"small rope, chain, wire," 1620s, nautical; earlier "leader" (mid-14c.), from Old French guie "a guide," also "a crane, derrick," from guier, from Frankish *witan "show the way" or a similar Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *witanan "to look after, guard, ascribe to, reproach" (source also of German weisen "to show, point out," Old English witan "to reproach," wite "fine, penalty"), from PIE root *weid- "to see." Or from a related word in North Sea Germanic.
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guy (n.2)
"fellow," 1847, American English; earlier, in British English (1836) "grotesquely or poorly dressed person," originally (1806) "effigy of Guy Fawkes," leader of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up British king and Parliament (Nov. 5, 1605). The effigies were paraded through the streets by children on the anniversary of the conspiracy. The male proper name is from French, related to Italian Guido.
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Guyana 
from a native word perhaps meaning "respectable." Related: Guyanese.
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