guinea

Definition

A gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings.

Etymology

From Guinea, the early modern name for West Africa, the coins originally being made of gold from the region, mostly from the 'Gold Coast' (modern Ghana) and used for African trade, and the guinea fowl being found there. Its use as an ethnic slur against Italians may be due to their darker complexion compared to people of Anglo-American descent.

Example Sentences

• "English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of string or bits of spider's web, round pieces and square pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to wear them round your neck—nearly every variety of money in the world must, I think, have found a place in that collection..."
• "However, since there are 488 pages in all for a bargain price of a guinea one must not be too carping."
• "The guineas peeped complainingly, the goslings waddled into all the puddles and came back to chill my skin."