Guts
/ɡʌts/noun
The internal organs, especially the intestines; also used figuratively for courage or nerve.
Did you know?In English, the singular sense “guts” as a mass noun for the bowels is old, but the brave-spirited meaning is a much later metaphor: courage was imagined as something you carried in your belly.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*guttô
“bowel, gut”
Old English
OE
guttas
“intestines, entrails”
Middle English
ME
gutte
“gut, bowel”
16th Century
English
guts
“the entrails; the internal organs”
19th Century
English
guts
“courage, nerve, determination”