gist
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French gist, third person singular indicative of the verb gesir (“to lie down”), from Latin iaceō. From such Law French phrases as cest action gist, "this action lies." Compare French gésir (conjugated form gît) or gîte (“lodging”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
gist (plural gists)
- The most essential part; the main idea or substance (of a longer or more complicated matter); the crux of a matter; the pith.
- 1948, Carl Sandburg, Remembrance Rock, page 103:
- "Should they live and build their church in the American wilderness, their worst dangers would rise in and among themselves rather than outside. That was the gist of the lesson from their pastor and "wellwiller" John Robinson."
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- He was handing her something in an envelope, and she was saying “Oh, Jeeves, you've saved a human life,” and he was saying “Not at all, miss.” The gist, of course, escaped me, but I had no leisure to probe into gists.
- 1996, Nicky Silver, Etiquette and Vitriol, Theatre Communications Group, published 1996, page 10:
- I was really just vomiting images like spoiled sushi (that may be an ill-considered metaphor, but you get my gist).
- 2003, Fyodor Dostoevsky, David McDuff, transl., Crime and Punishment, Penguin, page 183:
- I don't remember his exact words, but the gist of it was that he wanted it all for nothing, as quickly as possible, without any effort.
- (law, dated) The essential ground for action in a suit, without which there is no cause of action.
- (obsolete) Resting place (especially of animals), lodging.
- 1601, Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny's Natural History, 1st ed., book X, chapter XXIII “Of Swallowes, Ousles, or Merles, Thrushes, Stares or Sterlings, Turtles, and Stockdoves.”, p. 282:
- These Quailes have their set gists, to wit, ordinarie resting and baiting places. [These quails have their set gists, to wit, ordinary resting and baiting places.]
- 1601, Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny's Natural History, 1st ed., book X, chapter XXIII “Of Swallowes, Ousles, or Merles, Thrushes, Stares or Sterlings, Turtles, and Stockdoves.”, p. 282:
Synonyms[edit]
- (most essential part): crux, quintessence; See also Thesaurus:gist
- (essential ground for action): gravamen
- (resting place): lair
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
gist (third-person singular simple present gists, present participle gisting, simple past and past participle gisted)
- To summarize, to extract and present the most important parts of.
- 1873, Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the National Educational Association, session of the year 1872, at Boston, Massachusetts, page 201:
- There are two general ways of getting information, and these two general ways may be summed up in this: take one branch of study and its principles are all gisted, they have been gisted by the accumulated thought of years gone by. These gisted thoughts are axioms, or received principles, […]
Translations[edit]
References[edit]
- gist in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
- “gist” in Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed, 1856.
- “gist”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle Dutch gest, gist, from Old Dutch *gest, *gist, from Proto-West Germanic *jestu, from Proto-Germanic *jestuz.
Noun[edit]
gist f (plural gisten)
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- Afrikaans: gis
Etymology 2[edit]
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb[edit]
gist
- first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of gisten
- imperative of gisten
Etymology 3[edit]
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb[edit]
gist
- second- and third-person singular present indicative of gissen
- (archaic) plural imperative of gissen
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
gist
- Alternative form of gest
Old French[edit]
Verb[edit]
gist
Romansch[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Adjective[edit]
gist m (feminine singular gista, masculine plural gists, feminine plural gistas)
Welsh[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /ɡiːsd/, [ɡiːst]
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /ɡɪsd/, [ɡɪst]
Noun[edit]
gist
- Soft mutation of cist.
Mutation[edit]
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
cist | gist | nghist | chist |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Yola[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English juste, from Old French juste.
Adverb[edit]
gist
References[edit]
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 41
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(H)yeh₁-
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪst
- Rhymes:English/ɪst/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Law
- English dated terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɪst
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɪst/1 syllable
- Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -en
- Dutch feminine nouns
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch verb forms
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Old French non-lemma forms
- Old French verb forms
- Romansch terms inherited from Latin
- Romansch terms derived from Latin
- Romansch lemmas
- Romansch adjectives
- Welsh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Welsh non-lemma forms
- Welsh mutated nouns
- Welsh soft-mutation forms
- Yola terms inherited from Middle English
- Yola terms derived from Middle English
- Yola terms derived from Old French
- Yola lemmas
- Yola adverbs