Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡest/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gest,[2][3] probably borrowed from Old Norse gestr,[2][4][5] replacing the related Old English gæst, giest, Anglian gest, “a chance comer, a stranger”, in which the g was pronounced like y;[2][6] the native word would have given modern *yest.[6] Both are from Proto-Germanic *gastiz,[6][2] also the source of Dutch and German Gast and Gothic gasts “stranger, guest”,[6][4] from Proto-Indo-European *ghos-ti- (“stranger, guest, host”),[6][2] which also gave Latin hostis, earlier “stranger”, later “enemy”,[6][4][5] and Old Church Slavonic gostĭ “guest”.[4] According to Watkins the root sense is probably “someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”.[6] It is related to host and hostile.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English gæst, a guest, stranger or enemy, is from about 725, in Beowulf.[2] The OED's first sense, one entertained at another's house or table, is from before 1000,[7] and gest in Middle English is probably from before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.[2]

Semantic evolution

A stranger, the older sense, is now obsolete.[7] A person staying at an inn for pay is from the late 13th century.[6][7] Old English also had cuma “stranger, guest”, literally “a comer”.[6] A fellow or customer is from about 1394, obsolete except in dialect.[7] A parasite animal or plant is from 1864,[7] and an occasional performer not of the regular company from 1900.[7] The verb, to receive as a guest, is from the early 14th century,[6][7] and to appear as a guest performer from 1936 in American English.[6][7] Be my guest, go ahead, is from 1955.[6][7] In Scotland and the north of England a guest could also be a ghost or spectre.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English gæst.[2]
  • a. 1200 – Middle English gest.[2]
  • late 13th century – a paying guest.[6][7]
  • early 14th century – verb, to receive as a guest.[6]
  • 1900 – a guest performer.[7]
  • 1936 – verb, to appear as a guest.[6][7]
  • 1955 – be my guest.[6][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who is given hospitality at another's home or table, or at a party.
  2. A person who pays for a room or meals at a hotel or restaurant.
  3. A visiting performer or participant: a guest on the show.
  4. An animal or plant that lives as a parasite on another.

Verb

  1. To appear as a guest performer.
  2. To entertain as a guest.

Word family

  • guestless
  • guesthouse
  • guestlist
  • houseguest
  • guest of honor
  • guest room
  • guest worker
  • host
  • hostile
  • hospitality
  • xenophobia

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 i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)