guinea fowl

/ˈɡɪni ˌfaʊl/

noun

Any of several African birds of the family Numididae (6 species) resembling partridges.

Similar
guineaNumida meleagris

Meanings

guinea fowl1

nounguinea fowl (countable and uncountable, plural guinea fowls or guinea fowl)

plural guinea fowls · alternative Guinea fowl · alternative guinea-fowl · alternative guineafowl

  1. countableAny of several African birds of the family Numididae (6 species) resembling partridges.

    A tiny white head with a small red wattle hanging from its beak was peeking into our tent. It whistled softly. I laughed. A guinea fowl.

    2018, Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, HarperVoyager, page 273
  2. uncountableThe meat of this bird.

    The waiter reappeared with plates of guinea fowl, baked with pancetta and apples.

    2015, M[ary] L[ou] Longworth, “M. Verlaque Senior Ventures Beyond the Place des Vosges”, in The Mystery of the Lost Cézanne (Verlaque and Bonnet Mysteries; 5), New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 244
    2 more examples

    While Lawrence had given her the uncut version of his divorce, she had stolidly munched her way through a vast plate of guinea fowl stuffed with foie gras, boulangère potatoes and a wigwam of French beans.

    1998, Judy Astley, chapter 13, in Every Good Girl, Leicester: Ulverscroft, published 1999, →ISBN, page 211

    To the right is a long table housing a mouth-watering buffet of roast duck on platters, surrounded by smaller plates of guinea fowl, French bread, cold meats, and egg segments.

    2012, Lynda Renham, chapter 33, in Croissants and Jam: A Romantic Comedy, 2nd edition, [Combe]: Raucous Publishing, →ISBN, page 272

Guinea fowl2

nounGuinea fowl (countable and uncountable, plural Guinea fowls or Guinea fowl)

plural Guinea fowls

  1. countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of guinea fowl.

    A tornado hit Tomahawk in ’89, but took only a pen full of Guinea fowl and the steeple off the Lutheran church.

    2012, J. F. Glubka, “Heat Lightning”, in Southwest Review, volume 97, number 4, Dallas, Tex.: Southern Methodist University, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 525
    3 more examples

    And it is not a little ſurpriſing that the Guinea fowls, which are real natives of the country, and are ſoon domeſticated, ſhould be neglected by them; for it is never ſeen tame but in poſſeſſion of the Whites, or of thoſe who adopt their manners.

    1786 July 29, John Matthews, “Letter IV.”, in A Voyage to the River Sierra-Leone, on the Coast of Africa; […], London: […] B[enjamin] White and Son, […] and J[ohn] Sewell, […], published 1788, →OCLC, pages 48–49

    The Guinea fowls assimilate perfectly with the common species, in habits and in kinds of food; but have this peculiarity, that the cocks and hens are so nearly alike, it is difficult to distinguish them.

    1822, Bonington Moubray [pseudonym; John Lawrence], “Pintada”, in A Practical Treatise on Breeding, Rearing, and Fattening, All Kinds of Domestic Poultry, Pheasants, Pigeons, and Rabbits […], 4th edition, London: […] Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], →OCLC, section IV, page 42

    In the Bonnoit’s felicitous dining room, over duck pâtés, frogs’ legs, écrevisses on lettuce like trout just caught and lying in green grass, pommes de terre dauphinoises, mussel soup, Guinea fowl, girolles avec sauce à la crème, quenelles de brochet, poached-egg salad, or lapin braisée, the skippers exchange superstitions of their own.

    2006, John McPhee, “The Ships of Port Revel”, in Uncommon Carriers, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 52

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna west African bird having dark plumage mottled with white; native to Africa but raised for food in many parts of the world

Similar
guineaNumida meleagris
Broader
domestic fowlfowlpoultry
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Named after Guinea as it was imported from there.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans tarentaal
  • tarentaalbird
Ancient Greek μελεαγρίς, γαράμας
  • μελεαγρίς (meleagrís)bird
  • γαράμας (garámas)bird
Arabic غِرْغِر
  • غِرْغِر (ḡirḡir)bird
Basque pintada
  • pintadabird
Bulgarian токачка
  • токачка (tokačka)bird
Catalan pintada, gallina de guinea
  • pintadabird
  • gallina de guineabird
Czech perlička
  • perličkabird
Danish perlehøne
  • perlehønebird
Dutch parelhoen, poelepetaat
  • parelhoenbird
  • poelepetaatbird
Esperanto numido
  • numidobird
Estonian pärlkana
  • pärlkanabird
Finnish helmikana
  • helmikanabird
French pintade
  • pintadebird
German Perlhuhn
  • Perlhuhnbird
Greek φραγκόκοτα
  • φραγκόκοτα (fragkókota)bird
Hungarian gyöngytyúk
  • gyöngytyúkbird
Icelandic perluhænsn
  • perluhænsnbird
Irish cearc ghuine, coileach guine
  • cearc ghuinebird
  • coileach guinebird
Italian faraona
  • faraonabird
Latvian pērļu vistiņa
  • pērļu vistiņabird
Lithuanian patarška
  • patarškabird
Norwegian perlehøne
  • perlehønebird
Polish perliczka
  • perliczkabird
Portuguese galinha-d'angola, galinha-da-índia
  • galinha-d'angolabird
  • galinha-da-índiabird
  • galinha-da-guinébird
  • pintadabird
  • estou-fracabird
  • cocarbird
  • capotebird
Romanian bibilică, pichire
  • bibilicăbird
  • pichirebird
Russian цеса́рка
  • цеса́рка (cesárka)bird
Scottish Gaelic cearc Innseanach, coileach Innseanach
  • cearc Innseanachbird
  • coileach Innseanachbird
Slovak perlička
  • perličkabird
Spanish gallina de Guinea, pintada
  • gallina de Guineabird
  • pintadabird
  • gallinetabird
Swahili kanga, kororo
  • kangabird
  • kororobird
Swedish pärlhöna (hjälmpärlhöna), pärlhöns
  • pärlhöna (hjälmpärlhöna)bird
  • pärlhönsbird
Tamil கின்னிக்கோழி
  • கின்னிக்கோழி (kiṉṉikkōḻi)bird
Turkish Beç tavuğu
  • Beç tavuğubird
Ukrainian цеса́рка
  • цеса́рка (cesárka)bird
Welsh iâr gini, combác
  • iâr ginibird
  • combácbird
  • cochwatbird
Zulu impangele
  • impangelebird
Cite this entry
APA

guinea fowl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guinea%20fowl

MLA

“guinea fowl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guinea%20fowl. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “guinea fowl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guinea%20fowl.

Source: guinea fowl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.