Etymograph

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’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁widʰ-u-s1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*widuz2‘wood’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*widu2‘wood’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*Widō2reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400Gui2
  6. English1500–presentGuy2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1845guy2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *widuz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English guy
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1845, Henry Cockton, The Love Match: ““But shan’t I look a guy?” “Not a bit…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁widʰ-u-sWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *widuzreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*widuzWiktionary, English guy‘wood’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*widuWiktionary, English guy‘wood’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*WidōWiktionary, English guyreconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400GuiWiktionary, English guy
  6. English1500–presentGuyWiktionary, English guy
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1845guyWiktionary, English guy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *widuz ‘wood’

2 more

through Proto-West Germanic *widu ‘wood’

wood, 1 more

Another origin of guy

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wītaną‘know’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wītanreconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guie
  5. Englishtodayguy

Today it means

noun An effigy of a man burned on a bonfire on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot (5th November).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “guy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *widuz. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰ-u-s / guy

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