NYT Dictionary

GUIDE

/ɡaɪd/
NounVerbGEYEDGrade 6

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2020, 2025

Meaning

Someone who guides, especially someone hired to show people around a place or an institution and offer information and explanation, or to lead them through dangerous terrain.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der. Proto-Germanic *wītaną Frankish *wītanbor. Old Occitan guidar Old Occitan guidabor. Old French guidebor. Middle English guide English guide c. 1325–75. From Middle English guide, from the Old French guide, from Old Occitan guida, from guidar, from Frankish *wītan (“to show the way, lead”), from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“to see, know; go, depart”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”). Cognate with Old English wītan (“to see, take heed to, watch after, guard, keep”). Related also to English wit.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

guiderxenagoguelegendinterpreterusherguidebooktemplatetempletscoutpathfinder

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 1 recorded puzzle:

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