guess

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡes/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gessen (“to suppose, think”), probably borrowed from a Scandinavian source,^[2][3][4][5] such as Middle Danish gitse or Old Swedish gissa,^[2][6][7] or from or influenced by Middle Dutch gissen and Middle Low German gissen.^[3][6][8] The SOED and Hoad think it was perhaps originally a nautical word.^[6][7] All of these go back to the base of Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to get”), the source of get,^[3][6][2] and Barnhart reconstructs a desiderative *getiskanan.^[2] Etymonline sees a development from “get” to “take aim at” to “estimate”.^[3] The spelling with gu- dates from the late 16th century, and is sometimes attributed to Caxton's time as a printer in Bruges.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To suppose, assume, think: about 1303, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne,^[2] or about 1300.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb meant “to infer from observation, judge, estimate”,^[3] and also “to take aim”.^[7][9] To form an approximate judgement of a size or amount is from 1340.^[9] The noun, “a doubtful supposition”, is from about 1300,^[3] or about 1330.^[9] “To hit upon the right answer” is from the 1540s.^[3] Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms (1848) noted that in America, especially New England, guess was constantly used for “believe, suppose, think”.^[3][10] Guessing game is from the 1650s, keep someone guessing American English from 1896, and your guess is as good as mine from 1902.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – noun, a supposition.^[3]
• c. 1303 – verb, to suppose (Mannyng).^[2]
• 1340 – verb, to estimate.^[9]
• 1540s – verb, to guess correctly.^[3]
• late 16th century – the spelling guess.^[3]
• 1650s – guessing game.^[3]
• 1848 – American I guess noted (Bartlett).^[3]
• 1896 – keep someone guessing.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To predict or assume without enough information.
2. To estimate or judge correctly.
3. (chiefly US) To suppose, think.

Noun

1. An act of guessing; a conjecture.

Word family

• guesser
• guessable
• guessingly
• guesstimate
• guesswork
• guestimate
• outguess
• second-guess

Related words

• get
• forget

Usage notes

A separate dialect adjective guess, of a cow or ewe, “barren”, is recorded from 1736.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford