guinea

guinea
noun /ˈɡɪni/
a) A person of Italian descent.

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 spiders 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...

b) A gold coin originally worth twenty shillings and minted for use in Englands trade with Africa; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings.

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  • Guinea — Guinea …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • Guinea — Guin ea (g[i^]n [ e]), n. 1. A district on the west coast of Africa (formerly noted for its export of gold and slaves) after which the Guinea fowl, Guinea grass, Guinea peach, etc., are named. [1913 Webster] 2. A gold coin of England current for… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • guinea — former British coin, 1660s, from Guinea, region along the west coast of Africa, presumably from an African word (perhaps Tuareg aginaw black people ); the 20 shilling coins so called because they were first minted for British trade with Guinea… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Guinea —  , Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea  They are separate countries, all in West Africa. Guinea was formerly French Guinea. GuineaBissau was formerly Portuguese Guinea. Equatorial Guinea was formerly Spanish Guinea …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Guinea —    Guinea, or Guinea Coast, is a geographical term of Berber origins used by Europeans from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries to designate varying sections of the western coast of Africa, a region that formed one apex of the Atlantic… …   Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914

  • Guinea — Ober Guinea und West Sudan …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Guinea [2] — Guinēa (spr. gi ), Küstenland in Westafrika, vom Kap Roxo bis zum Kap Negro, vom Kap Lopez geteilt in Ober oder Nord G. (G. im engern Sinne) und in Nieder oder Süd G. In der Nordostecke von Ober G. dringt der Golf von G. mit den Baien von Benin… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • GUINEA — vulgo la Guinee, regio Aficae perampla, inter Nigrititam ad Bor. et mare Atlanticum ad Austr. et inter regnum Congi ad Ort. et montem Leonis ad Occas. Regio est abundans et fertilis, ab Ort. in Occas. valde extensa, et ab Europaeis admodum… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • guinea — [gin′ē] n. [the gold of which it was first made came from Guinea] 1. a former English gold coin, last minted in 1813, equal to 21 shillings: the word is still used in England in giving prices of luxury items 2. GUINEA FOWL 3. Slang an Italian or… …   English World dictionary

  • Guinēa — Guinēa, ein großer Theil der Westseite Afrikas, zu beiden Seiten des Äquator. Gewöhnlich versteht man aber unter G. den Küstenstrich zwischen dem Äquator u. 10° nördl. Br., welcher zum Unterschiede von dem südlich vom Äquator liegenden… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Guinēa — (spr. gi ; hierzu die Karte »Ober Guinea und West Sudân«), Teil der Westküste Afrikas, vom Kap Roxo (12°19´ nördl. Br.) bis Kap Negro (16° südl. Br.), zerfällt in zwei Teile: Oberguinea und Niederguinea, deren Grenze von Kap Lopez im… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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