Meanings
plural guykerls
- ShetlandA giantess, typically a giant wife.
The giantesses or guykerls seem to have survived their husbands for some considerable time, for they continued to play an active part in folklore.
1981, James R. Nicolson, Shetland Folklore, page 911 more example
He went up his hill for a large stone he knew would be sufficient, but as he was returning, staggering under the weight of the enormous boulder, his Guykerl saw him and cried out jeeringly.
1932, Jessie Margaret Edmondston Saxby, Shetland Traditional Lore, page 132
Origin
- Old Norsegýgr“ogress”
- Englishguykerl
From English gyre-carlin, from Old Norse gýgr (“ogress”) + English carline (“old woman”).
More words from Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
guykerl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guykerl
“guykerl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guykerl. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “guykerl,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guykerl.
Source: guykerl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.