a former money of account of the United Kingdom, equal to 21 shillings: still often used in quoting fees or prices.
a gold coin of Great Britain issued from 1663 to 1813, with a nominal value of 20 shillings.
Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of Italian birth or descent.
Horse Racing. a person who does miscellaneous work in or around a horse stable.
a coastal region in western Africa, extending from the Gambia River to the Gabon estuary.
Formerly French Guinea. an independent republic in western Africa, on the Atlantic coast. About 96,900 sq. mi. (251,000 sq. km). Conakry.
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.
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)
(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)
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
a British gold coin taken out of circulation in 1813, worth 21 shillings
the sum of 21 shillings (£1.05), still used in some contexts, as in quoting professional fees
See guinea fowl
slang an Italian or a person of Italian descent
Guinea was once part of the Mali empire.
It became independent of France in 1958.
C16: the coin was originally made of gold from Guinea
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some 32 people are thought to have been sent to Equatorial Guinea since last year, all African.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
A small petrostate in central Africa, Equatorial Guinea has been under the authoritarian rule of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo since 1979.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
Equatorial Guinea has then held them without charge before deporting them to their countries of origin.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
Five are from Ghana, two from Guinea and one each from Nigeria and Senegal, officials told the BBC.
From BBC • May 20, 2026
In short, New Guinea offers an instructive contrast to the Fertile Crescent.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
