Grillo's Drawings: July 2010

gee·zer

Slang: An old person, especially an eccentric old man.
[Probably alteration of dialectal guiser, masquerader, from Middle English gysar, from gysen, to dress, from gyse, guise, fashion; see guise.]

Word History: A relationship with a word we know well is disguised in the word geezer. A clue to this relationship is found in British dialect. The English Dialect Dictionary defines geezer as "a queer character, a strangely-acting person," and refers the reader to guiser, "a mummer, masquerader." The citations for guiser refer to practices such as the following: "People, usually children ... go about on Christmas Eve, singing, wearing masks, or otherwise disguised," the last word of this passage being the one to which geezer is related.