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gyrene

noun

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.

  1. derived from *móri✻
  2. derived from marinus
  3. derived from marin
  4. inherited from marin
  5. compounded as gyrene — “GI + marine”

Definitions

  1. A member of the United States Marine Corps.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for gyrene. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA