Gide

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. French author and 1947 Nobel Prize laureate in literature, known for novels such as The Immoralist
2. The celebrated French novelist and critic who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947
3. A major French man of letters whose fiction and essays explored moral freedom and won a Nobel Prize in 1947

Etymology: "Gide" is an older spelling of "ide," the name of a freshwater fish related to the carp and minnow family. The fish is native to northern Europe and is valued by anglers, and its name appears to have been borrowed from Swedish "id," which in turn comes from Old Norse, though the exact route into English is uncertain. The spelling "gide" is the less common form, and it is less familiar than the surname of the French writer André Gide, which is a separate word. Among readers, the fish sense is the one that matters for the word's history.