Other forms: guided, guides, guiding
A guide is somebody who shows visitors round and explains what they are seeing. A tour guide, a mountain guide, the guide spoke four languages.
It is also the book — a guide to Rome, a field guide to birds — and any set of instructions: a beginner's guide, a style guide. As a verb it means to lead or direct, both physically and figuratively: guide them through the process. Note guidelines, meaning recommended rather than compulsory rules, and that in Britain the Guides is the girls' organisation equivalent to the Scouts.
1nounguideSomebody who shows visitors round a place.
“The guide walked them round the whole site in ninety minutes.”
2nounbookA book or set of instructions.
“There is a guide on the website and nobody reads it.”
3verbleadTo lead or direct somebody.
“She guided them through the paperwork in an afternoon.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
guide is somebody or something that shows the way.
Also accepted in games: tour guide
Frankish witan meant to show the way, from a root meaning to see or know — the same root as wise, wit and vision. A guide is somebody who knows, and the knowing came before the walking.
Frankish
*wītan
Old Occitan
guida
Old French
guide
Middle English
guide
English, today
guide
From Middle English guide, from Old French guide, from Old Occitan guida, from guidar, from Frankish wītan. c. 1325–75. From Middle English guide, from the Old French guide, from Old Occitan guida, from guidar, from Frankish wītan (“to show the way, lead”), from Proto-Germanic wītaną (“to see, know; go, depart”), from Proto-Indo-European weyd- (“to see, know”). Cognate with Old English wītan (“to see, take heed to, watch after, guard, keep”). Related also to English wit.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA