gesture
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Medieval Latin gestūra (“a mode of action”), from Latin gerō (“to bear; (reflexive) bear oneself, behave, act”), past participle gestus.
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒest͡ʃə/, /ˈd͡ʒɛs.tʃə(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɚ/, /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɝ/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛstʃə(ɹ)
Noun[edit]
gesture (plural gestures)
- 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.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, / In every gesture dignity and love.
- An act or a remark that serves as a formality or as a sign of attitude.
- We took flowers as a gesture of sympathy.
- 1922, Michael Arlen, “2/4/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days[1]:
- But, with a gesture, she put a period to this dalliance—one shouldn't palter so on an empty stomach, she might almost have said.
- (graphical user interface) A motion made with a pointing device, or on a touchscreen, that is recognised by the system as a command.
- (obsolete) The manner of carrying the body; position of the body or limbs; posture.
- 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], OCLC 152706203:
- Accubation, or lying down at meals, was a gesture used by very many nations.
Related terms[edit]
- countergesture
- gesticulate
- gesticulation
- gesticulative
- gestural
- gestureless
- gesturelike
- gesturement
- gesture politics
- gesturer
Translations[edit]
motion of the limbs or body
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act or remark
Verb[edit]
gesture (third-person singular simple present gestures, present participle gesturing, simple past and past participle gestured)
- (intransitive) To make a gesture or gestures.
- My dad told me never to gesture with my hands when I talk.
- Never gesture at someone using your middle finger: it may be perceived as an insult.
- (transitive) To express something by a gesture or gestures.
- He gestured his disgust.
- (transitive) To accompany or illustrate with gesture or action.
- 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, OCLC 931154958, (please specify the page):
- It is not orderly read, nor gestured as beseemeth.
Synonyms[edit]
- ((intransitive) make a gesture): gesticulate
Hyponyms[edit]
- ((intransitive) make a gesture): beckon
Translations[edit]
to make a gesture
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to express something by a gesture
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- gesture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- gesture in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Alemannic German[edit]
Adjective[edit]
gesture
- Alternative form of gesturm
Latin[edit]
Participle[edit]
gestūre
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eǵ-
- English terms borrowed from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛstʃə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɛstʃə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Graphical user interface
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Body language
- Alemannic German lemmas
- Alemannic German adjectives
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin participle forms