gi

¹

Or gie

[gee]

noun

1. a lightweight, two-piece, usually white garment worn by barefooted martial-arts participants, consisting of loose-fitting pants and a wraparound jacket with cloth belt.

Gi

²

1. gilbert; gilberts.

GI

³

Or G.I.

[jee-ahy]

noun

plural

GI's, GIs 

1. a member or former member of the U.S. armed forces, especially an enlisted soldier.

adjective

1. rigidly adhering to military regulations and practices; regimented; spit-and-polish.

   a platoon leader who tried to be more GI than anyone else.

2. of a standardized style or type issued by the U.S. armed forces.

   GI shoes; GI blankets.

3. conforming to the regulations or practices of the U.S. armed forces.

   Every recruit must get a GI haircut.

4. of, relating to, or characteristic of a U.S. enlisted person.

   a typical peacetime GI complaint.

verb (used with object)

GI'd, GI'ing 

1. to clean in preparation for inspection.

   to GI the barracks.

verb (used without object)

GI'd, GI'ing 

1. to follow military regulations and customs closely; shape up.

   You'd better learn to GI if you want to be promoted.

gi.

⁴

abbreviation

1. gill; gills.

G.I.

⁵

Also g.i.

abbreviation

1. galvanized iron.

2. gastrointestinal.

3. general issue.

4. government issue.

GI

¹

noun

1. a soldier in the US Army, esp an enlisted man

adjective

1. conforming to US Army regulations; of standard government issue

GI

²

abbreviation

1. gastrointestinal

2. glycaemic index

Gi

³

abbreviation

1. gilbert

gi

⁴

/ ɡiː /

noun

1. a loose-fitting white suit worn in judo, karate, and other martial arts

   a karate gi

gi

⁵

abbreviation

1. Gibraltar

Word History and Origins

Origin of GI¹

1970–75; shortening of Japanese jūdō-gi jujitsu garb, equivalent to jūdō judo + -gi, combining form of ki to wear

Origin of GI²

1915–20; originally abbreviation of galvanized iron, used in U.S. Army bookkeeping in entering articles (e.g., trash cans) made of it; later extended to all articles issued (as an assumed abbreviation of government issue ) and finally to soldiers themselves

Word History and Origins

Origin of GI¹

C20: abbrev. of government issue

Origin of GI²

from Japanese -gi costume, from ki to wear

Example Sentences

Some help for veterans came in the form of the GI Bill.

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“The GI Bill,” as Mr. Nasaw writes, “was designed, in large part, to bind the veterans’ wounds and ease their adjustment to civilian life.”

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Not that all veterans qualified for the GI Bill but for those who did qualify the bill allowed “free tuition, books, and fees to attend college, vocational school, or a job-training program of your choice and a living allowance while you were enrolled.”

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Many who would later establish themselves as serious artists and thinkers took advantage of the GI Bill.

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Henry Kissinger, among others, went to school—Harvard, after being turned down at Columbia, Cornell, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton—on the GI Bill.

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