Guide

How to spell guide

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce guide

What does guide mean?

1. verbTo lead or direct someone along a route, or to steer a process toward a goal.
2. nounA person who shows the way, or a book or document that gives instruction or information.

Guide in a sentence

• verb

  The instructor will guide each driver through the parking test.

• noun

  The museum guide explained the history of each painting.

• verb

  Clear road signs guide visitors to the main entrance.

• noun

  She bought a travel guide before her trip to Rome.

Where does guide come from?

Language of origin: French

Guide came into English in the late 1300s from the Old French verb guider, meaning to lead, conduct, or direct. The French form had been reshaped under the influence of an older verb guier, and both ultimately trace back to a Germanic root tied to the sense of watching over or knowing the way, the same family that gave us the word wit (to know). The early English uses applied to leaders in war and travel, people trusted to show others a safe path; from there it broadened to the noun for a person, then a handbook, that points the way. The silent letters are the classic spelling trap: the u after the g keeps the g hard, and the final e is silent, so the word looks longer than it sounds. The same gu- spelling habit, borrowed through French, is why guard, guarantee, and guile all carry that quiet u.

How the word is built

• guid- (from Old French guider: to lead, direct)
• -e (silent final e)