English
guy
Guy comes from the name of Guy Fawkes, by semantic widening; the name Guy is from Old French Gui, from Proto-West Germanic *Widō, a short form of names beginning with *widu ‘wood’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁widʰ-u-sreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*widuz‘wood’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*widu‘wood’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*Widōreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400Gui
- English1500–presentGuy
- Englishearliest quotation 1845guy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁widʰ-u-sreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*widuz‘wood’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*widu‘wood’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*Widōreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400Gui
- English1500–presentGuy
- Englishearliest quotation 1845guy
Earliest quotation: 1845, Henry Cockton, The Love Match: “But shan’t I look a guy?” “Not a bit…”
The story
Coined by semantic widening from the name of Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), an English Catholic executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, which also came to refer to effigies of his image burned annually on Guy Fawkes Night. The name Guy is from Old French Gui, from a Frankish form of Proto-West Germanic *Widō (compare Old Dutch Wido), a short form of names beginning with the element *widu (‘wood’), from Proto-Germanic *widuz.
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *widuz ‘wood’
through Proto-West Germanic *widu ‘wood’
Another origin of guy
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-‘to see’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wītaną‘know’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*wītanreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400guie
- Englishtodayguy
Today it means
noun An effigy of a man burned on a bonfire on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot (5th November).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.