gesture

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Medieval Latin gestura (“a mode of action”), from Latin gerere (“to bear, reflexive bear oneself, behave, act”), past participle gestus.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

gesture (plural gestures)

1. A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech.

   The middle finger gesture is really a nonverbal swear.

   This Web browser can be controlled with mouse gestures.

2. An act or a remark made as a formality or as a sign of attitude.

   We took flowers as a gesture of sympathy.

Related terms

• countergesture
• gesticulate
• gesticulation
• gesticulative
• gestural
• gestureless
• gesturelike

Translations

motion of the limbs or body

American Sign Language: FlatB@InsideChesthigh-FlatB@InsideChesthigh CirclesMidline-CirclesMidline Arabic: لفتة، لمحة Armenian: շարժում (hy) (šaržum), ժեստ (hy) (žest) Chinese: Mandarin: 手勢 (cmn), 手势 (cmn) (shǒushì), 姿勢 (cmn), 姿势 (cmn) (zīshì) Dutch: gebaar (nl) n. Finnish: ele (fi), liike (fi) French: geste (fr) m.

German: Geste (de) f., Gebärde (de) f., Attitüde (de) f. Italian: gesto (it) Portuguese: gesto (pt) m. Romanian: gest (ro) n. Russian: жест (ru) (žest) m., телодвижение (ru) (t'elodvižénije) n. Slovak: gesto (sk) n. Spanish: gesto (es) m. Swedish: gest (sv) c. Turkish: işaret (tr) (işāret), jest (tr), (medicine) gesture (tr), el kol hareketi (tr), baş hareketi (tr), el hareketi (tr), kol hareketi (tr)

act or remark

Armenian: ժեստ (hy) (žest) Chinese: Mandarin: 表示 (cmn) (biǎoshì) Dutch: gebaar (nl) n. Finnish: ele (fi), ilmaus (fi) French: geste (fr) m.

German: Geste (de) f. Portuguese: gesto (pt) m. Russian: жест (ru) (žest) m., поступок (ru) (postúpok) m. Slovak: gesto (sk) n. Spanish: gesto (es) m.

Verb

gesture (third-person singular simple present gestures, present participle gesturing, simple past and past participle gestured)

1. (intransitive) To make a gesture or gestures.

   My dad said to never gesture with my hands when I talk.

2. (transitive) To express something by a gesture or gestures.

   Never gesture at someone with a middle finger.

Synonyms

• ((intransitive) make a gesture): gesticulate

Hyponyms

• ((intransitive) make a gesture): beckon

Translations

(intransitive) to make a gesture

American Sign Language: FlatB@InsideChesthigh-FlatB@InsideChesthigh CirclesMidline-CirclesMidline Chinese: Mandarin: 做手势 (cmn), 做手勢 (cmn) (zuò shǒushì) Finnish: elehtiä (fi)

German: gestikulieren Russian: жестикулировать (ru) (žestikulírovat') impf. Slovak: gestikulovať (sk) Swedish: gestikulera (sv)

(transitive) to express something by a gesture

Chinese: Mandarin: 表示 (cmn) (biǎoshì) Dutch: gebaren (nl)

Finnish: elehtiä (fi) German: (jemandem etwas) bedeuten Swedish: gestikulera (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Portuguese: gesticular

See also

• Appendix:Gestures

External links

• gesture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• gesture in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

---

Latin

Participle

gestūre

1. vocative masculine singular of gestūrus