gest

See also: Gest

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French geste.

Noun

gest (countable and uncountable, plural gests)

1. (obsolete) A gesture or action.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: Printed [by John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book II, canto IX:

     They did obeysaunce, as beseemed right, / And then againe returned to their restes: / The Porter eke to her did lout with humble gestes.

   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 36, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     more Kings and Princes have written his gestes and actions, than any other historians, of what quality soever, have registred the gests, or collected the actions of any other King or Prince that ever was […].

2. (archaic) A story or adventure; a verse or prose romance.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

3. (archaic) An action represented in sports, plays, or on the stage; show; ceremony.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Mede to this entry?)

4. (archaic) bearing; deportment
   • Edmund Spenser

     through his heroic grace and honorable gest

Translations

gesture

• French: geste (fr) m

verse romance

• French: geste (fr) f

Etymology 2

Compare gist a resting place.

Noun

gest (plural gests)

1. (obsolete) A stage in travelling; a stop for rest or lodging in a journey; a rest.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Kersey to this entry?)

2. (obsolete) A roll reciting the several stages arranged for a royal progress.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hanmer to this entry?)

Anagrams

• gets, steg, tegs

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Catalan

Noun

gest m (plural gests or gestos)

1. gesture

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Icelandic

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

gest

1. indefinite accusative singular of gestur

Etymology 2

Verb

gest

1. singular present indicative of getast
2. second-person imperative of getast

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *gest, *gist, from Proto-Germanic *jestuz.

Noun

gest m or f

1. yeast

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

• gist

Descendants

• Dutch: gist

Further reading

Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “gest (II)”, in Middelniederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From a conflation of Old Norse gestr and Old English ġiest; both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Germanic *gʰóstis. Doublet of host.

Alternative forms

• geste, gist, geast, gyst

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛst/, /ɡɛːst/, /ɡist/
• Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

gest (plural gestes)

2. A guest, visitor; somebody staying at another's residence.
3. A customer of a hostel or inn; one that pays for accomodation.
4. An unknown person; a foreigner or outsider.
5. A (often threatening) male individual; a ominous person.
6. (figuratively, rare) A male lover of a woman; a man in an unofficial intimate relationship with a woman.

Derived terms

• gesten
• gestenen
• gestyng

Descendants

• English: guest
• Scots: guest

References

• “gest (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-26.

Etymology 2

From Old French geste.

Noun

gest

1. Alternative form of geste (“tale”)

Etymology 3

From Old French geste.

Noun

gest

1. Alternative form of geste (“tribe”)

Etymology 4

From gest (“guest”, noun).

Verb

gest

1. Alternative form of gesten (“to host a guest”)

Etymology 5

From geste (“tale”, noun).

Verb

gest

1. Alternative form of gesten (“to read poetry”)

Etymology 6

From Old English ġist.

Noun

gest

1. Alternative form of yest (“beer foam”)

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin gestus, via French geste

Noun

gest m (definite singular gesten, indefinite plural gester, definite plural gestene)

1. a gesture

References

• “gest” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin gestus, via French geste

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛst/

Noun

gest m (definite singular gesten, indefinite plural gestar, definite plural gestane)

1. a gesture

References

• “gest” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gaistaz.

Noun

gēst m

1. A soul, spirit, breath

Declension

Declension of gēst (masculine a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	gēst	gēstos
accusative	gēst	gēstos
genitive	gēstes	gēstō
dative	gēste	gēstum
instrumental	—	—

Descendants

• Middle Low German: gēst, geist
  • Low German: geest

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛst/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

gest m inan

1. gesture

Declension

declension of gest

	singular	plural
nominative	gest	gesty
genitive	gestu	gestów
dative	gestowi	gestom
accusative	gest	gesty
instrumental	gestem	gestami
locative	geście	gestach
vocative	geście	gesty

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Romanian

Etymology

From French geste.

Noun

gest n (plural gesturi)

1. gesture

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɧɛst/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

gest c

1. a gesture; a motion of the hands

   gäster med gester

   guests with gestures (title of a Swedish TV show)

2. a gesture; a symbolic action, a signal

Declension

Declension of gest
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	gest	gesten	gester	gesterna
Genitive	gests	gestens	gesters	gesternas

Related terms

• gestik
• gestikulation
• gestikulera
• gestikulering
• gestisk
• gestuell

Anagrams

• gets, steg, tegs

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛst/

Verb

gest

1. Soft mutation of cest.