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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

At times, this makes the humble viewer feel a bit like a guinea pig in a focus group; the audience’s reactions are integral to measuring the film’s success.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

“They kind of used us as guinea pigs,” Dotson said, laughing, during training camp.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

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

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

"We're like the guinea pig of the area," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

So there we were: hamsters, gerbils, mice and guinea pigs—not nearly as popular as the fish, cats or dogs.

From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney

Located just north of Australia, the island is divided between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

Anthropologists have documented the Gogodala people of western Papua New Guinea singing Hebrew songs and hoisting the flag of Israel at tribal ceremonies.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

It says the deal realizes value for the asset and removes risks related to operating in Papua New Guinea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

The Gambia supplements its own generation with imported electricity, including supplies from Guinea and neighbouring Senegal.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Papua New Guinea, as Yali’s nation is now called, was at that time still administered by Australia as a mandate of the United Nations, but independence was in the air.

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

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

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2019

In 2006 Lady Rothschild paid a then record 4.6 million guineas for a broodmare when purchasing Magical Romance.

From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2019

The siblings raise guineas, ducks, chickens and geese for eggs and goats and rabbits for meat.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 28, 2018

In 1846, she bought three, at four guineas each, from Hitchings Baby Stores of Ludgate Hill in London.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 20, 2018

“Pip has earned a premium here,” she said, “and here it is. There are five-and-twenty guineas in this bag. Give it to your master, Pip.”

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens