# gest
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA: /d͡ʒɛst/
* Homophone: jest
* Rhymes: -ɛst

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French geste. Doublet of jest.

#### Noun

gest (countable and uncountable, plural gests)
* (archaic) A story or adventure; a verse or prose romance.
** 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC:The tales of Robin Hood, or the gests written by Ariost the Italian in his booke intituled Orlando furioso.
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:Who faire them quites, as him beseemed best, And goodly gan discourse of many a noble gest.
* (archaic) An action represented in sports, plays, or on the stage; show; ceremony.
** a. 1639, Joseph Mede, a sermon
    And surely no Ceremonies of dedication , no not of Solomons Temple it self , are comparable to those sacred gests , whereby this place was sanctified
* (archaic) Bearing; deportment.
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 24:through his heroic grace and honorable gest
* (obsolete) A gesture or action.
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC: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, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC: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 […].

#### Derived terms

* gested
* gestic

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

A variant of gist (“resting-place”).

#### Noun

gest (plural gests)
* (obsolete) Alternative form of gist (“a stop for lodging or rest in a journey, or the place where this happens; a rest”)
** c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:[…] Yet of your Royall presence, Ile aduenture / The borrow of a Weeke. When at Bohemia / You take my Lord, Ile giue him my Commission, / To let him there a Moneth, behind the Gest / Prefix'd for's parting: yet (good-deed) Leontes, / I loue thee not a Iarre o'th' Clock, behind / What Lady she her Lord. You'le stay?

##### Derived terms

* gests (“roll reciting the several stages of a royal progress”)

### Anagrams

* Gets, gets, steg, tegs

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gestus. First attested in the 14th century.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒest]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒest]

### Noun

gest m (plural gests or gestos)
* gesture

#### Related terms

* gesticular

### References

* ↑ “gest”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

### Further reading

* “gest” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “gest” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “gest” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Icelandic
### Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

gest
* indefinite accusative singular of gestur

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

gest
* singular present indicative of getast
* second-person imperative of getast

## Middle Dutch
### Alternative forms

* gist

### Etymology

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

### Noun

gest m or f
* yeast

#### Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

#### Alternative forms

* gist

#### Descendants

* Dutch: gist
** Afrikaans: gis
* Limburgish: ges

### Further reading

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

## 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: /ɡɛst/, /ɡɛːst/, /ɡist/
* Rhymes: -ɛst

#### Noun

gest (plural gestes)
* A guest, visitor; somebody staying at another's residence.
* A customer of a hostel or inn; one that pays for accommodation.
* An unknown person; a foreigner or outsider.
* A (often threatening) male individual; a ominous person.
* (figurative, 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
#### Noun

gest
* Alternative form of geste (“tale”)
** late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Man of Law's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1126-1127:
    In olde Romayn gestes may men finde Maurices lyf; I bere it noght in minde.In the old Roman histories may men find Maurice's life; I bear it not in mind.
** late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Squire's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 209-211:
    [...] Or elles it was the Grekes hors Synon, That broghte Troye to destruccion, As men may in thise olde gestes rede, [...][...] Or else it was Sinon the Greek's horse, That brought Troy to destruction, As men in these old romances read, [...]

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

gest
* Alternative form of geste (“tribe”)

### Etymology 4
#### Verb

gest
* Alternative form of gesten (“to host a guest”)

### Etymology 5
#### Verb

gest
* Alternative form of gesten (“to read poetry”)

### Etymology 6
#### Noun

gest
* Alternative form of yest (“beer foam”)

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Latin gestus, via French geste.

### Noun

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

### References

* “gest” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Latin gestus, via French geste.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡɛst/

### Noun

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

### References

* “gest” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old Frisian
### Etymology

Possibly borrowed from Old Saxon gēst or Old High German geist.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡeːst/, [ˈɡɛːst]

### Noun

gēst m
* Alternative form of gāst

#### References

* Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 28

## Old Norse
### Noun

gest
* accusative/dative singular of gestr

## Old Saxon
### Alternative forms

* *gast

### Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gaist.

### Noun

gēst m
* A soul, spirit, breath

#### Descendants

* Middle Low German: gêst, geist
** German Low German: Geest, Geist
** Low German: geest
** Plautdietsch: Jeist
** → Norwegian Bokmål: gast
** → Old Danish: gast (or from Frisian)
*** Danish: gast
** → Swedish: gast

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin gestus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡɛst/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛst
* Syllabification: gest

### Noun

gest m inan
* gesture (motion of the limbs or body)
* gesture (act or remark)

#### Declension
### Further reading

* gest in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* gest in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French geste.

### Noun

gest n (plural gesturi)
* gesture

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Latin gestus (“having been carried”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɧɛst/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

gest c
* a gesture; a motion of the hands
    gäster med gester
       guests with gestures (title of a Swedish TV show)
* a gesture; a symbolic action, a signal

#### Related terms

* gestik
* gestikulation
* gestikulera
* gestikulering
* gestisk
* gestuell

### References

* gest in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* gest in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* gest in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

### Anagrams

* gets, segt, steg, tegs

## Welsh
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡɛst/

### Verb

gest
* Soft mutation of cest.

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.