jest

C2+ Topic:Entertainment & Leisure

US /ˈdʒɛst/ UK /ˈdʒɛst/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a joke or playful remark; to speak or act in fun

He spoke in jest, but she took the words to heart.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a joke or playful remark;... joke quip gag jape gibe witticism banter

Word family

Forms jestingly

Derived forms jesterjestfuljestingly

Related forms gest

Etymology

From Middle English 'geste' ('a tale of exploits'), from Old French 'geste', from Latin 'gesta' ('deeds, exploits'), neuter plural of 'gestus', past participle of 'gerere' ('to carry on, perform'); the sense narrowed from 'narrative' to 'idle tale' to 'joke'.

geste Old French gesta Latin gerere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Entertainment & Leisure

External links

# jest

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈdʒɛst/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdʒɛst/

## Meanings
1. a joke or playful remark; to speak or act in fun

## Examples
- He spoke in jest, but she took the words to heart.

## Synonyms
- joke
- quip
- gag
- jape
- gibe
- witticism
- banter

## Derived Forms
- jester
- jestful
- jestingly

## Related Forms
- gest

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: geste
- Root: gesta
- Root: gerere

## Etymology
From Middle English 'geste' ('a tale of exploits'), from Old French 'geste', from Latin 'gesta' ('deeds, exploits'), neuter plural of 'gestus', past participle of 'gerere' ('to carry on, perform'); the sense narrowed from 'narrative' to 'idle tale' to 'joke'.

## AI Etymology
Jest comes from Middle English 'geste' ('a tale of exploits'), from Old French 'geste', from Latin 'gesta' ('deeds, exploits'), neuter plural of 'gestus', past participle of 'gerere' ('to carry on, perform'); the sense narrowed from 'narrative' to 'idle tale' to 'joke'. The etymological trail includes Old French geste, Latin gesta, and Latin gerere. As a noun, jest means a joke or playful remark; to speak or act in fun. The same family is visible in derived forms such as jester, jestful, and jestingly and related forms such as gest.

## Topics
- Entertainment & Leisure

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