guest

See also: Guest

English

Etymology

From Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or was merged with Old English ġiest, both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”). Cognate with German Gast (“guest”). Doublet of host, from Latin.

Pronunciation

• enPR: gĕst, IPA^(key): /ɡɛst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst
• Homophone: guessed

Noun

guest (plural guests)

1. A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.

   The guests were let in by the butler.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

     We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.

2. A patron or customer in a hotel etc.

   Guests must vacate their rooms by 10 o'clock on their day of departure.

3. An invited visitor or performer to an institution or to a broadcast.

   The guest for the broadcast was a leading footballer.

4. (computing) A user given temporary access to a system despite not having an account of their own.
5. (zoology) Any insect that lives in the nest of another without compulsion and usually not as a parasite.
6. (zoology) An inquiline.

Translations

recipient of hospitality

• Afrikaans: gas (af)
• Ahom: 𑜁𑜢𑜀𑜫 (khik)
• Ainu: please add this translation if you can
• Albanian: mysafir (sq) m, vizitor (sq) m
• Amharic: እንግዳ (ʾəngəda)
• Arabic: ضَيْف‎ m or f (ḍayf), زَائِر‎ m (zāʾir)

  Egyptian Arabic: ضيف‎ m (ḍēf)

  Moroccan Arabic: ضِيف‎ m (ḍif)

• Aragonese: huesped
• Armenian: հյուր (hy) (hyur)
• Aromanian: oaspe, musafir
• Assamese: আলহী (alohi)
• Asturian: güéspede m, güéspeda f
• Azerbaijani: qonaq (az), müsafir, mehman
• Baluchi: مہمان‎ (mihmán), میمان‎ (memán)
• Bashkir: ҡунаҡ (qunaq)
• Basque: ostalari
• Bats: ჰ̡აშ (h̡aš), ჰ̡აშე̆ (h̡ašĕ)
• Belarusian: госць m (hoscʹ), го́сця f (hóscja)
• Bengali: মেহমান (mehman), অতিথি (bn) (ôtithi)
• Bulgarian: гост (bg) m (gost), го́стенка f (góstenka)
• Burmese: ဧည့်သည် (my) (e-ny.sany), ဧည့် (my) (e-ny.)
• Catalan: convidat (ca) m, hoste (ca) m
• Chechen: хьеша (ḥeša)
• Chichewa: mlendo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 人客 (jan⁴ haak³), 客人 (haak³ jan⁴)

  Dungan: кижын (kiřɨn)

  Gan: 人客 (nyin⁴ kah⁶)

  Jin: 客人 (kah⁴ zeng¹)

  Mandarin: 客人 (zh) (kèrén), 來賓 (zh), 来宾 (zh) (láibīn), 來客 (zh), 来客 (zh) (láikè)

  Min Dong: 人客 (nè̤ng-káh)

  Min Nan: 人客 (zh-min-nan) (lâng-kheh, lâng-kheeh)

  Xiang: 人客 (zhen² ke⁶)

• Chittagonian: গরবা (gorba)
• Chukchi: рэмкыԓьын (rėmkyḷʹyn)
• Czech: host (cs) m, hostka f
• Danish: gæst (da) c
• Dutch: gast (nl) m
• Esperanto: gasto
• Estonian: külaline
• Faroese: gestur m
• Finnish: vieras (fi)
• French: invité (fr) m, invitée (fr) f, hôte (fr) m or f
• Friulian: forest, ospit
• Galician: hóspede (gl) m or f, convidado (gl)
• Georgian: სტუმარი (sṭumari)
• German: Gast (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts)
• Greek: επισκέπτης (el) m (episképtis)
• Gujarati: અતિથિ (atithi)
• Hebrew: אוֹרֵחַ‎ (he) m (oréakh)
• Hindi: मेहमान (hi) m (mehmān), अतिथि (hi) m (atithi)
• Hungarian: vendég (hu)
• Icelandic: gestur (is) m
• Indonesian: tamu (id)
• Ingush: хьаьаша (ḥäaša)
• Isan: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: ospite (it) m or f, invitato (it) m, convitato (it) m
• Japanese: 客人 (ja) (きゃくじん, kyakujin), 客 (ja) (きゃく, kyaku), (honorific) お客さん (おきゃくさん, o-kyaku-san), 来客 (ja) (らいきゃく, raikyaku), 来賓 (ja) (らいひん, raihin)
• Javanese: tamu
• Kazakh: қонақ (kk) (qonaq), мейман (meyman)
• Khmer: ភ្ញៀវ (km) (phñiəw), អតិថិ (km) (ʼaʼtetheʼ), អាវេសិក (km) (ʼaaveisək)
• Korean: 손님 (ko) (sonnim), 하객(賀客) (ko) (hagaek), 내빈(來賓) (ko) (naebin), 래빈(來賓) (ko) (raebin) (North Korea), 방문객(訪問客) (ko) (bangmun'gaek)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: میوان‎ (ku) (mîwan)

  Northern Kurdish: mêvan (ku)

• Kyrgyz: конок (qonoq), мейман (meyman)
• Laboya: kulla
• Ladino: musafir, invitado
• Lao: ແຂກ (lo) (khǣk)

• Latgalian: gosts
• Latin: hostis (la) c, hospes m
• Latvian: viesis m, ciemiņš m
• Lithuanian: svečias m
• Lü: ᦶᦃᧅᧈ (ẋaek¹), ᦖᦱᧃ (ṁaan)
• Macedonian: гостин m (gostin), гостинка f (gostinka), гост m (gost)
• Malay: tetamu
• Maltese: mistieden m
• Manchu: ᠠᠨᡨᠠᡥᠠ (antaha)
• Maori: manuhiri
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: зочин (mn) (zochin)

• Ngazidja Comorian: mdjeni 1 or 2
• Nivkh: антӽ (antẋ)
• Northern Sami: guossi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjest (no) m

• Occitan: convidat m, òste (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: гость m (gostĭ)

  Glagolitic: ⰳⱁⱄⱅⱐ m (gostĭ)

• Old East Slavic: гость m (gostĭ)
• Old English: ġiest m, cuma m
• Old Norse: gestr m
• Oromo: keessummaa
• Ossetian: уазӕг (wazæg)
• Pali: atithi m
• Pashto: مېلمه‎ (ps) m (melmá), رابللی‎ m (rābalálay)
• Persian: مهمان‎ (fa) (mehmân)
• Plautdietsch: Gaust m
• Polabian: ďüst m
• Polish: gość (pl) m (male or female)
• Portuguese: hóspede (pt) m or f, convidado (pt) m
• Romanian: oaspete (ro) m, musafir (ro) m, musafiră (ro) f
• Romansch: giast, hosp
• Russian: гость (ru) m (gostʹ), го́стья (ru) f (góstʹja)
• Sanskrit: अतिथि (sa) m (atithi)
• Sardinian: cumbidàu
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: го̑ст m, го̀шћа f

  Roman: gȏst (sh) m, gòšća (sh) f

• Shan: ၶႅၵ်ႇ (shn) (khèk)
• Slovak: hosť m, hostka f
• Slovene: gost (sl) m, gošća f, gostja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gósć m

  Upper Sorbian: hósć m

• Spanish: huésped (es) m or f, visita (es) f, visitante (es) m or f, convidado (es) m, comensal (es) m or f
• Svan: მუშგვრი (mušgvri)
• Swahili: mgeni (sw) m-wa
• Swedish: gäst (sv) c
• Tajik: меҳмон (tg) (mehmon)
• Tatar: кунак (tt) (qunaq)
• Telugu: అతిథి (te) (atithi)
• Thai: แขก (th) (kɛ̀ɛk)
• Tibetan: མགྲོན་པོ (mgron po)
• Tigrinya: ጋሻ (gaša)
• Turkish: konuk (tr), misafir (tr)
• Turkmen: myhman
• Tuvan: аалчы (aalçı)
• Ukrainian: гість m (histʹ), го́стя f (hóstja)
• Urdu: مہمان‎ m (mehmān)
• Uyghur: مېھمان‎ (mëhman)
• Uzbek: mehmon (uz)
• Vietnamese: khách (vi) (客)
• Volapük: lotan (vo)
• Walloon: priyî (wa) m, invité m
• Wolof: gan (wo)
• Yiddish: גאַסט‎ m (gast)
• Zazaki: meyman (diq) du
• Zhuang: bouxhek, hek

patron, customer

• Afrikaans: gas (af), klant (af), klient
• Armenian: հաճախորդ (hy) (hačaxord)
• Basque: ostalari
• Bulgarian: посети́тел (bg) m (posetítel), клие́нт (bg) m (kliént)
• Catalan: hoste (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 顧客 (zh), 顾客 (zh) (gùkè)

• Czech: host (cs) m
• Danish: gæst (da) c
• Dutch: gast (nl) m
• Faroese: gestur m
• Finnish: asiakas (fi), vieras (fi)
• French: client(e) (fr) m
• Galician: hóspede (gl) m or f
• German: Gast (de) m
• Greek: πελάτης (el) m (pelátis)
• Hebrew: אוֹרֵחַ‎ (he) m (oréakh)
• Icelandic: gestur (is) m

• Italian: cliente (it) m or f, ospite (it) m or f
• Japanese: 客 (ja) (きゃく, kyaku), (honorific) お客さん (おきゃくさん, o-kyaku-san), 顧客 (ja) (こきゃく, kokyaku)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: میوان‎ (ku) (mîwan)

• Macedonian: го́стин m (góstin)
• Old English: ġiest m, cuma m
• Polish: gość (pl) m
• Portuguese: hóspede (pt) m or f
• Russian: посети́тель (ru) m (posetítelʹ), посети́тельница (ru) f (posetítelʹnica), постоя́лец (ru) m (postojálec) (hotel), клие́нт (ru) m (klijént), клие́нтка (ru) f (klijéntka)
• Slovene: gost (sl) m, gostja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gósć m

  Upper Sorbian: hósć m

• Swedish: gäst (sv) c, hotellgäst (sv) c
• Thai: ลูกค้า (th) (lûuk-káa)
• Vietnamese: khách (vi)
• Zazaki: mışterı du or f du or n

invited performer

• Afrikaans: gaskunstenaar
• Basque: gonbidatu
• Belarusian: госць m (hoscʹ), го́сця f (hóscja)
• Bulgarian: гост (bg) m (gost), го́стенка f (góstenka)
• Catalan: invitat (ca) m
• Czech: host (cs) m
• Danish: gæst (da) c
• Dutch: gast (nl) m
• Faroese: gestur m
• Finnish: vieras (fi)
• French: invité(e) m
• Galician: convidado (gl) m
• German: Gast (de) m
• Greek: φιλοξενούμενος (el) m (filoxenoúmenos), προσκεκλημένος (el) m (proskekliménos)
• Hebrew: אוֹרֵחַ‎ (he) m (oréakh)
• Icelandic: gestur (is) m

• Italian: ospite (it) m or f
• Macedonian: гостин m (gostin)
• Polish: gość (pl) m
• Portuguese: convidado (pt) m
• Russian: гость (ru) m (gostʹ), го́стья (ru) f (góstʹja)
• Slovak: hosť m, hostka f, hostia pl
• Slovene: gost (sl) m, gostja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gósć m

• Spanish: invitado (es) m, invitada (es) f
• Swedish: gäst (sv) c, gästartist (sv) c
• Telugu: అతిథి (te) (atithi)
• Ukrainian: гість m (histʹ), го́стя f (hóstja)
• Zazaki: meyman (diq) m du or f du or n du

Verb

guest (third-person singular simple present guests, present participle guesting, simple past and past participle guested)

1. (intransitive) to appear as a guest, especially on a broadcast
2. (intransitive) as a musician, to play as a guest, providing an instrument that a band/orchestra does not normally have in its line up (for instance, percussion in a string band)
3. (transitive, obsolete) To receive or entertain hospitably.
   • 1608, [Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas], “(please specify the page)”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, OCLC 1181680849:

     Two Angels sent Two Heav'nly Scowts the Lord to Sodom sent ; downe , received and guested

Translations

to appear as a guest

• Basque: gonbidatu
• Bulgarian: гостувам (gostuvam)
• Danish: gæste
• Finnish: esiintyä vieraana
• German: gastieren (de)
• Greek: φιλοξενούμαι (el) (filoxenoúmai)

• Hebrew: התארח‎ (hitarákh)
• Macedonian: гостува (gostuva)
• Russian: гости́ть (ru) impf (gostítʹ), (on broadcast) быть в гостя́х (bytʹ v gostjáx)
• Swedish: gästa (sv)
• Zazaki: meymaniye (diq) n or pf

to receive or entertain hospitably as a guest — see host

Derived terms

Derived terms

• guestage
• guest book
• guestfree
• guestfriendly
• guestfriendship

• guesthouse, guest house
• guest of honour, guest of honor

Anagrams

• tegus