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Origin and history of gest

gest(n.)

"famous deed, exploit," more commonly "story of great deeds, tale of adventure," c. 1300, from Old French geste, jeste "action, exploit, romance, history" (of celebrated people or actions), from Medieval Latin gesta "actions, exploits, deeds, achievements," noun use of neuter plural of Latin gestus, past participle of gerere "to carry on, wage, perform," which de Vaan says is considered to be from the same root as agere "to set in motion, drive forward, do, perform" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move"). Now only as a deliberate archaism. Jest (n.) is the same word, with a decayed sense.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to gest

jest(n.)

early 13c., geste, "narrative of exploits," from Old French geste "action, exploit," from Latin gesta "deeds," neuter plural of gestus, past participle of gerere "to carry, behave, act, perform" (see gest, which preserves the original sense). Sense descended through "idle tale" (late 15c.) to "mocking speech, raillery" (1540s) to "joke" (1550s). Also "a laughing-stock" (1590s). Jest-book is from 1690s.

belligerent(adj.)

1570s, "waging war, engaged in hostilities," from Latin belligerantem (nominative belligerans), past participle of belligerare "to wage war," from bellum "war" (see bellicose) + gerere "to bear, to carry" (see gest). The noun meaning "party or nation at war" is from 1811. Related: Belligerently.

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Trends of gest

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

congeries
"a collection into one mass or aggregate," 1610s, from Latin congeries "heap, pile, collected mass," from congerere "to bring together, pile up," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + gerere "to carry, perform" (see gest). False singular congery is attested b
congestion
early 15c., "accumulation of morbid matter in the body," from Old French congestion (14c.) and directly from Latin congestionem (nominative congestio) "a heaping up," noun of action from past participle stem of congerere "to bring together, pile up," from assimilated form of com
digest
late 14c., in reference to Justinian's law codes in ancient Rome, from Late Latin digesta, from neuter plural of Latin digestus, literally "digested thing," noun use of past participle of digerere "to separate, divide, arrange," etymologically "to carry apart," from dis- "apart"
exaggerate
from aggerere "bring together, carry toward," from assimilated form of ad "to, toward" (see ad-) + gerere "carry" (see gest...
guest
Old English gæst, giest (Anglian gest) "an accidental guest, a chance comer, a stranger," from Proto-Germanic *gastiz (source...
ghost
person, man, human being," in Biblical use "soul, spirit, life," from Proto-West Germanic *gaistaz (source also of Old Saxon gest...
dilemma
1520s in rhetoric (see below), from Late Latin dilemma, from Greek dilemma "double proposition," a technical term in rhetoric, from di- "two" (see di- (1)) + lemma "premise, anything received or taken," from root of lambanein "to take" (see lemma). A form of argument in which it
calamity
early 15c., "damage, state of adversity;" 1550s, "a great misfortune or cause of misery," from Old French calamite (14c.), from Latin calamitatem (nominative calamitas) "damage, loss, failure; disaster, misfortune, adversity," a word of obscure origin. Early etymologists associat
peculiar
mid-15c., "belonging exclusively to one person," also "special, particular," from Old French peculiaire and directly from Latin peculiaris "of one's own (property)," from peculium "private property," literally "property in cattle" (in ancient times the most important form of prop
conjure
late 13c., "command on oath;" c. 1300, "summon by a sacred name, invoke by incantation or magic," from Old French conjurer "invoke, conjure" (12c.) and directly from Latin coniurare "to swear together; conspire," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + iurare "

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Dictionary entries near gest
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