gut

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡʌt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gutte, inherited from Old English guttas (“bowels, entrails”) (plural), probably related to gēotan, to pour,^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *gut-, from Proto-Indo-European *gheu-, to pour.^[3] Related words are Middle Dutch gote, gutter, and German Gosse (“gutter, drain”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The bowels or entrails: before 1000.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The singular, an intestine, is from the 14th century,^[4][6] and the abdomen or belly from the late 14th century.^[3] A narrow passage of water is from the 1530s.^[3][4] The inside or contents of anything, usually guts, is from the 1570s.^[3] Guts, energy, courage, force of character, is from 1893.^[2][6][7] The verb, to remove the guts of, is from about 1390, and figuratively to plunder the contents of by the 1680s.^[2][3] Easy college course is student slang from 1916.^[3] To hate someone's guts is from 1918, gutsy from 1936, and the adjective, basic or instinctive, as gut reaction, from 1963.^[3][2]

Timeline

• before 1000 – the entrails.^[6]
• c. 1390 – to gut (verb).^[2]
• 1530s – a narrow channel.^[3]
• 1893 – guts, courage.^[2]
• 1936 – gutsy.^[2]
• 1963 – gut reaction.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The intestine or stomach, or the whole alimentary canal.
2. (guts) The bowels or entrails.
3. (guts, informal) Courage or nerve.
4. The innermost or essential part: the guts of a problem.
5. Catgut, used for strings or surgical stitches.
6. A narrow channel or passage.

Verb

1. To remove the entrails of.
2. To destroy the inside of a building.

Adjective

1. Instinctive or emotional: a gut feeling.

Word family

• gutty
• gutlike

Related words

• blood-and-guts
• guts
• gutsy
• gutter
• catgut

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press