Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

gyrene

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
gyrene
IPA
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A member of the United States Marine Corps.

Informal

Etymology

Uncertain. First attested 1894 in a list of United States Naval Academy slang, where it remained in use at least until 1925. Widely adopted during the Second World War. Often stated to be a blend of GI + marine, but early uses antedate both the widespread adoption of the term GI (c. 1910) and its use to denote individuals (c. late 1930s). Possibly related to Royal Navy slang gerine (“a marine”), though gyrene antedates it in print. gerine is sometimes given as a clipping of tangerine, in reference to the color of the tunics worn by the Royal Marine Light Infantry, but U.S. Marines' uniforms did not have such a color.

Usage

Inflected Forms

gyrenes (plural)

Questions

What does gyrene mean?
A member of the United States Marine Corps.
Where does gyrene come from?
Uncertain. First attested 1894 in a list of United States Naval Academy slang, where it remained in use at least until 1925. Widely adopted during the Second World War. Often stated to be a blend of GI + marine, but early uses antedate both the widespread adoption of the term GI (c. 1910) and its use to denote individuals (c. late 1930s). Possibly related to Royal Navy slang gerine (“a marine”), though gyrene antedates it in print. gerine is sometimes given as a clipping of tangerine, in reference to the color of the tunics worn by the Royal Marine Light Infantry, but U.S. Marines' uniforms did not have such a color.

How to pronounce gyrene

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “gyrene”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “gyrene”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “gyrene” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.