“guys” is a form of
guy
[ɡaɪ] noun, verb, proper noun
Forms guys guying guyed guies
- noun (UK, Ireland) An effigy of a man burned on a bonfire on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot (5th November).
- noun (dated) A person of eccentric appearance or dress; a "fright".
- noun (colloquial) A man or boy; a fellow.
- noun (especially in the plural, sometimes controversial) A person (see usage notes).
- noun (colloquial) Anything seen to have character and personality, such as an animal or a toy. “The dog's left foreleg was broken, poor little guy.”
- noun (informal, term of address) dude, Buster, Mack, fella, bud, man. “Hey, guy, give a man a break, would ya?”
- noun (colloquial) Thing, item (term that can be used to refer to any entity) “This guy, here, controls the current, and this guy, here, measures the voltage.”
- verb (intransitive) To exhibit an effigy of Guy Fawkes around the 5th November.
- verb (transitive) To make fun of, to ridicule with wit or innuendo.
- noun (obsolete, rare) A guide; a leader or conductor.
- noun (chiefly nautical) A support rope or cable used to aid in hoisting or lowering.
- noun (chiefly nautical) A support to secure or steady structures prone to shift their position or be carried away (e.g. the mast of a ship, a suspension bridge, or a utility pole).
- verb To equip with a support cable.
- proper noun A male given name from the Germanic languages.
- proper noun A surname originating as a patronymic.
- noun (UK) An effigy of Guy Fawkes burned on Bonfire Night
- proper noun A male given name from Hebrew.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A minor city in Faulkner County, Arkansas.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Liberty Township, Howard County, Indiana.
Synonyms
dude fella homey bro bloke chap bhoy boy boykin boyo callant chav feely-omi knave lad little boy man child manling page pillicock cat hombre bozo guy cable guy wire guy rope ridicule roast blackguard laugh at
Etymology
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. Cognate with Italian Guido. Doublet of guido.
From Old French guie, linked to verb guier (“guide”), from Frankish *wītan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“know”). Cognate with English guide.
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; see for example modern German Witold and Old Saxon Widukind. Cognate with Italian Guido and thus a doublet of Guido. More at wood.
From the Hebrew name גַּיְא (gáy, literally “valley”), with the spelling influenced by the existing English name.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A rope, chain, or rod attached to anything to steady it; as: a rope to steady or guide an object which is being hoisted or lowered; a rope which holds in place the end of a boom, spar, or yard in a ship; a chain or wire rope connecting a suspension bridge with the land on either side to prevent lateral swaying; a rod or rope attached to the top of a structure, as of a derrick, and extending obliquely to the ground, where it is fastened.
- verb To steady or guide with a guy.
- noun A grotesque effigy, like that of Guy Fawkes, dressed up in England on the fifth of November, the day of the Gunpowder Plot.
- noun A person of queer looks or dress. Dickens.
Etymology [Sp. guia guide, a guy or small rope used on board of ships to keep weighty things in their places; of Teutonic origin, and the same word as E. guide. See Guide, and cf. Gye.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “guy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details