Word of the Day

: April 6, 2013

gest

noun JEST

What It Means

1 : a tale of adventures; especially : a romance in verse

2 : adventure, exploit

gest in Context

Dorothy, who has already traveled the world in her quest for adventure, now daydreams of the ultimate gest-a trip into outer space.

"The best authentic source of Robin Hood stories is the late medieval poem A Gest of Robyn Hode …, a compilation of traditional ballads and stories." - From the 2003 travel book England by Guy McDonald

Did You Know?

"Let the Queen know of our gests," Antony instructs his men after a hard-won victory on the battlefield in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra." Great deeds and heroic acts have been the stuff of gests since medieval days; in fact, the word is more often associated with knights and heroes of old than with modern adventurers. We may not be hearing about many 21st century "gests," but we do frequently encounter other relatives of the word. "Gest" traces to Latin "gestus," the past participle of the verb "gerere," which means "to wage," "to bear," or "to carry," among other things. That Latin verb gave us stoutly enduring words like "gesture," "ingest," "jest," "register," and "suggest."