Etymology
1. c.1303,
gessen "to estimate, appraise," originally "take aim," probably from Scand. (cf. Middle Danish
gitse, getze "to guess," O.N.
geta "guess, get"), possibly infl. by M.Du.
gessen, M.L.G.
gissen "to guess," all from P.Gmc.
*getiskanan "to get" (see move). Sense evolution is from "to get," to "to take aim at," to "to estimate." U.S. sense of "calculate, recon" is true to the oldest Eng. meaning. Spelling with
gu- is late 16c., sometimes attributed to Caxton and his early experience as a printer in Bruges.
Guesswork is from 1725.
Guesstimate is 1934, coined by statisticians, blending
guess and
estimate.
2. From Middle English gessen (verb) and Middle English gesse (noun), 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”).
3. Cognate with Danish gisne (“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”), Dutch gis (“a 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. See: Middle English '
gessen', Proto-Germanic '
*getaną', Danish '
gisne', Swedish '
gissa', Frisian, Saterlandic 'gisje', Dutch '
gissen', Low Saxon 'gissen', Icelandic '
giska', Russian '
гада́ть'.
Verbs referencing "guess"
Dutch
gissen.