gesture

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈdʒes.tʃə/, US /ˈdʒes.tʃɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin gestūra (“bearing, behaviour, mode of action”),^[2][3][4][5] from gestus (“gesture, carriage, posture”),^[2][3] from gerō (“to bear, carry, act”),^[2][4][6] of uncertain origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Manner of carrying the body, bearing or deportment: about 1410 in the OED, about 1400 in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The original sense of bearing led to the use of posture and bodily movements for effect in oratory.^[6] Barnhart dates the movement of the body to emphasize speech to about 1454;^[2] Etymonline dates the restricted sense, a movement expressing a thought or feeling, to the 1550s, and the OED to 1551–6.^[3][7] A posture or attitude, especially in prayer, is from 1533.^[7] An action done in goodwill to express a feeling, as in a gesture of friendship, is from 1916.^[3] The verb is from 1542.^[2][7][4]

Timeline

• c. 1410 – bearing, deportment.^[7]
• 1533 – a posture.^[7]
• 1542 – to gesture (verb).^[2][7]
• 1551–6 – a movement of the body.^[7]
• 1916 – a goodwill gesture.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A movement of the hands, head or body to express an idea or feeling, especially while speaking.
2. Something done or said as a formality or as a sign of intention: a political gesture.

Verb

1. To make gestures; to express or direct by gestures.

Word family

• gestural
• gesturally
• gesturer
• gesticulate
• gesticulation
• ungesturing

Related words

• jest
• digest
• register

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press