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• guinea
  guinea

  noun

  a former money of account of the United Kingdom, equal to 21 shillings: still often used in quoting fees or prices.
• Guinea
  Guinea

  noun

  a coastal region in western Africa, extending from the Gambia River to the Gabon estuary.

guinea

¹ American  

[gin-ee] / ˈgɪn i /

noun

• guineas
  plural

1. a former money of account of the United Kingdom, equal to 21 shillings: still often used in quoting fees or prices.

2. a gold coin of Great Britain issued from 1663 to 1813, with a nominal value of 20 shillings.

3. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of Italian birth or descent.

4. Horse Racing. a person who does miscellaneous work in or around a horse stable.

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Guinea ² American  

[gin-ee] / ˈgɪn i /

noun

1. a coastal region in western Africa, extending from the Gambia River to the Gabon estuary.

2. Formerly French Guinea.  an independent republic in western Africa, on the Atlantic coast. About 96,900 sq. mi. (251,000 sq. km). Conakry.

3. Gulf of Guinea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean that projects into the western coast of Africa and extends from the Ivory Coast to Gabon.

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Guinea ¹ British  

/ ˈɡɪnɪ /

noun

1. a republic in West Africa, on the Atlantic: established as the colony of French Guinea in 1890 and became an independent republic in 1958. Official language: French. Religion: Muslim majority and animist. Currency: franc. Capital: Conakry. Pop: 11 176 026 (2013 est). Area: 245 855 sq km (94 925 sq miles)

2. (formerly) the coastal region of West Africa, between Cape Verde and Namibe (formerly Moçâmedes; Angola): divided by a line of volcanic peaks into Upper Guinea (between The Gambia and Cameroon) and Lower Guinea (between Cameroon and S Angola)

3. a large inlet of the S Atlantic on the W coast of Africa, extending from Cape Palmas, Liberia, to Cape Lopez, Gabon: contains two large bays, the Bight of Bonny and the Bight of Benin, separated by the Niger delta

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guinea ² British  

/ ˈɡɪnɪ /

noun

1. 1. a British gold coin taken out of circulation in 1813, worth 21 shillings

   2. the sum of 21 shillings (£1.05), still used in some contexts, as in quoting professional fees

2. See guinea fowl

3. slang an Italian or a person of Italian descent

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Guinea Cultural  

1. Republic in west Africa, bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali to the north; Ivory Coast to the east; Liberia to the south; and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its capital and largest city is Conarky.

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Discover More

Guinea was once part of the Mali empire.

It became independent of France in 1958.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Guinean
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• guineas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of guinea

C16: the coin was originally made of gold from Guinea

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guinea Guinea guineas

But that’s leading some locals to say, “It’s great that it’s here. It’s kind of bad that we’re the guinea pigs.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Sumac guinea foul with za’atar beetroot and jeweled cauliflower rice.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

You don’t want your guest to be a guinea pig.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Criw Compostio picks up waste, as well as wood shavings from a carpentry business and used rabbit and guinea pig bedding from pet owners, twice a week.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

If guinea fowl had been slightly more intelligent, it wouldn’t have worked, but fortunately they were as dull-witted as earthworms.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

One 16-year-old who declined to give his name said he was from the West African nation of Guinea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The father of a teenager from Guinea with sickle cell disease who died days after he was arrested for cheating in an exam has told the BBC he blames the authorities for his death.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Yamal’s father was born in Morocco and his mother in Equatorial Guinea before moving to Catalonia with their families as children.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

That contrast is especially striking in the Bismarck Sea north of Papua New Guinea, where the seafloor remains poorly understood despite its remarkable geological complexity.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

Around 1200 B.C. a group of farming, fishing, seafaring people from the Bismarck Archipelago north of New Guinea finally succeeded in reaching some of those islands.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

The score was sold at auction in 1915 for 50 guineas to Sir Robert Hudson of Hill Hall in Essex.

From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2024

It also earned him twenty-five guineas, his first income as a journalist.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2019

In 1963, a “Snob” pinafore dress cost six guineas – the equivalent of just over £100.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 17, 2019

She won a silver flower basket worth 20 guineas; her runner-up took home a silver mirror and brush set.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2018

“What I paid two guineas to discover is this. There isn’t going to be an appeal just because five years on you’ve decided to tell the truth.”

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan