jest

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English geste,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French geste (“action, exploit; a romance in verse”), also jeste,^[6][7][2][5] itself a learned borrowing^[7] from Latin gesta (“deeds, exploits”),^[6][2][4][8] the neuter plural of gestus, past participle of gerō (“to carry, behave, act, perform”).^[2][7][5][8] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1136, already meaning a heroic deed and a narrative of such deeds.^[9] Jest is a later spelling of gest, which keeps the original sense.^[6][2][10] The verb is inherited from Middle English gesten (“to recite a tale”), from the noun.^[2][7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A narrative about heroic deeds, a romance: before 1300, in King Horn.^[6] Barnhart dates the word to probably about 1225, in King Horn, in the sense "entertainment, amusement".^[7] The sense "notable deed, exploit" is recorded from before 1400.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The meaning moved from the deeds to the tales told about them: the narrative of heroic deeds became an idle or trivial tale in the late 15th century,^{[2][3][11][12]} and then mocking speech or a taunt in the 1540s and a joke in the 1550s.^[2][3][6] Barnhart suggests that the verb influenced this development of the noun,^[7] and in Late Middle English geste already meant a satirical utterance or lampoon.^[7][10] The verb, first "to tell a story, recite a romance" in Chaucer,^[6][7] came to mean "to jeer, mock" in Tyndale's Bible (1526) and "to joke" by 1553.^[6][7] In jest, not seriously, is recorded from 1551,^[6] and the sense "laughingstock" from the 1590s.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as "any thing ludicrous, or meant only to raise laughter".^[13] Weekley suggested that to break a jest was modelled on breaking a lance.^[14] A jester was first a minstrel, Middle English gestour.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1300 – a narrative of heroic deeds, a romance (obsolete by 1532).^[6]
• c. 1386 – verb, to tell a story, recite a romance (obsolete).^[6][7]
• before 1400 – a notable deed, an exploit (obsolete by 1604).^[6]
• 1488 – an idle or trivial tale.^[6][2]
• c. 1510 – jester, from Middle English gestour, a minstrel.^[7]
• 1526 – verb, to jeer or mock.^[6][7]
• 1530 – verb, to speak or act playfully.^[6]
• 1548 – a taunt or jeer.^[6][7]
• 1551 – a joke or witticism, and in jest, not in earnest.^[6][7]
• 1553 – verb, to joke.^[6][7]
• 1578 – a prank.^[6]
• 1606 – a laughingstock.^[6] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1590s.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something said or done to amuse; a joke or witticism.^[15][5][6]
2. Playfulness or fun, as opposed to earnest, especially in the phrase in jest: He said it only in jest.^[15][6]
3. A taunt or jeer; playful teasing.^[15][6]
4. An object of ridicule; a laughingstock.^[15][6]
5. A prank or practical joke.^[5][6]
6. (obsolete, 1400–1604) A notable deed or exploit.^[5][6]

Verb

1. To speak or act playfully or without seriousness; to joke: Surely you jest.^[15][5][6]
2. To make fun of, mock or scoff; to jeer at: They jested at his old-fashioned hat.^[15][5][6]

Word family

• jestingly
• jestful
• outjest
• jester

Related words

• gest
• gesture
• gestation
• gesticulate
• register
• gerund
• digest

Usage notes

A separate adverb jest, recorded from 1815, represents a colloquial and regional pronunciation of just.^[6][10] Dictionary.com lists gist, jest and just among easily confused words.^[16]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House