typee

noun — 2 senses

typee

nounalso spelled Typee

US, UK /ˈtaɪpi/ · /ˈtaipi/

Etymology Borrowed from Guyanese Creole English typee; further origin unknown, claimed to be from an Indo-Aryan language but no etymon has been found.

1

Guyana Intense lovesickness; infatuation, limerence.

  • The fact that stuck in my head, however, that the prettiest thing to one crow is another crow, a male monkey sees a female monkey the way Romeo had ‘typee’ for his Juliet.1976 June 27, Guyana Chronicle, Georgetown, Guyana: Guyana National Newspaper, →OCLC, page 6:
  • Stephen continued to see more of Sarah, after the Black Friday riots. He had typee for her; she was constantly in his thoughts.1994 May, Bernard Heydorn, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, in Walk Good Guyana Boy, Newmarket, Ont.: Learning Improvement Centre, published March 1998, →ISBN, page 205:
1 more example
  • I played chasie (tag) with him and the other children in the yard, but I am certain Oswald never knew I had typee for him. The love affair was short lived, because we only lived there for a short time.2011 October 27, Helena Martin, “1958 James Street, Albouystown”, in Walk wit’ Me … All ova Guyana: Memoir of Helena Martin, Bloomington, Ind.: Balboa Press, Hay House, →ISBN, page 148:

Typee

noun
1

Obsolete A member of the Tai-pi people of Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for typee and Typee.