guinea pig (English)
Where does "guinea pig" come from?
The origin of the term 'guinea pig' remains a subject of debate. One theory suggests the name arose because the South American rodents were transported to Europe via Guinea, while another proposes that 'guinea' was simply a broad term for an exotic, unknown land[1]. A further possibility is that the name is an alteration of 'coney', an older word for 'rabbit', noting that they were called 'pig coneys' in a 1607 treatise[1]. The creatures became staples of scientific research by the 17th century, leading to the figurative sense of 'experimental subject' that emerged in the early 20th century[1].
Open questions
- The precise origin of the word guinea in this context is unknown and debated among several theories including geographic misattribution, a generic label for foreignness, or an alteration of coney. [1]
Full etymology tree
- guinea pig (English), 'Any tailless rodent of the genus Cavia, which have short ears and superficially resemble large hamsters.'
- compound guinea (English), 'A gold coin originally worth twenty shillings; later (from 1717 until the adoption of decimal currency) standardised at a value of twenty-one shillings.'
- compound pig (English), 'Any of several mammalian species of the family Suidae, having cloven hooves, bristles and a snout adapted for digging; especially the domesticated animal Sus domesticus.'
- inherited pigge (Middle English), 'A piglet or young pig.'
- inherited *picg (Old English)
- inherited pigge (Middle English), 'A piglet or young pig.'
Descendants and derived words
- domestic guinea pig (English)
- guinea piglet (English)
- guinea pig night (English)
- dyinipi (Sranan Tongo)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris