guess
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: gĕs, IPA(key): /ɡɛs/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛs
Etymology 1
From Middle English gessen, probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Danish getse, gitse, getsa (“to guess”), from Old Norse *getsa, *gitsa, from Proto-Germanic *gitisōną (“to guess”), from Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to get”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Danish gisse (“to guess”), Norwegian gissa, gjette (“to guess”), Swedish gissa (“to guess”), Saterland Frisian gisje (“to guess”), Dutch gissen (“to guess”), Low German gissen (“to guess”). Related also to Icelandic giska ("to guess"; from Proto-Germanic *gitiskōną). Compare also Russian гада́ть (gadátʹ, “to conjecture, guess, divine”), Albanian gjëzë (“riddle”) from gjej (“find, recover, obtain”). More at get.
Verb
guess (third-person singular simple present guesses, present participle guessing, simple past and past participle guessed)
- To reach a partly (or totally) unqualified conclusion.
- To solve by a correct conjecture; to conjecture rightly.
- He who guesses the riddle shall have the ring.
- (chiefly US) to suppose (introducing a proposition of uncertain plausibility).
- That album is quite hard to find, but I guess you could try ordering it online.
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:
- Not all together; better far, I guess, / That we do make our entrance several ways.
- 1714, Alexander Pope, Imitations of Horace
- But in known images of life I guess / The labour greater.
- 1914–1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear:
- "Are you a member of the union?"
"Sure."
"Then you'll get your job, I guess. Have you any friends?"
- (colloquial) To think, conclude, or decide (without a connotation of uncertainty). Usually in first person: "I guess".
- "I guess you were right." "What did he say?" "He guesses you were right."
- "I guess I'll go to bed."
- (obsolete) To hit upon or reproduce by memory.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:
- Tell me their words, as near as thou canst guess them.
-
Conjugation
Conjugation of guess
| infinitive | (to) guess | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | guess | guessed | |
| 2nd-person singular | guess, guessest† | guessed, guessedst† | |
| 3rd-person singular | guesses, guesseth† | guessed | |
| plural | guess | ||
| subjunctive | guess | guessed | |
| imperative | guess | — | |
| participles | guessing | guessed | |
†Archaic or obsolete.
Synonyms
- assume
- hypothesize
- speculate
- take a stab
Derived terms
- foreguess
- guessable
- guesser
- guessing game
- guesstimate
- guess what
- guesswork
- keep someone guessing
- no prize for guessing
- out-guess
- second-guess
- you'll never guess
Translations
to reach an unqualified conclusion
|
to solve by a correct conjecture
|
to suppose
|
to think, conclude, or decide without a connotation of uncertainty
|
(obsolete in English) to hit upon or reproduce by memory
|
Etymology 2
From Middle English gesse. Cognate with Dutch gis (“a guess”).
Noun
guess (plural guesses)
- A prediction about the outcome of something, typically made without factual evidence or support.
- If you don't know the answer, take a guess.
- Synonyms: estimate, hypothesis, prediction
- 1907, L. Frank Baum, Ozma of Oz:
- "But I shall have eleven guesses," answered Ozma. "Surely I ought to guess one object in eleven correctly; and, if I do, I shall rescue one of the royal family and be safe myself. Then the rest of you may attempt it, and soon we shall free all those who are enslaved."
- 2005, Mike Batt (lyrics and music), “Nine Million Bicycles”, performed by Katie Melua:
- We are twelve billion light years from the edge / That's a guess
Derived terms
- anotherguess
- anyone's guess
- by guess or by gosh
- educated guess
- guesstimate
- guesswork
- miss one's guess
- otherguess
- take a guess
- your guess is as good as mine
Translations
prediction about the outcome of something
|
Further reading
- guess in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- guess in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- Guses