quest
English
Etymology
From Middle English quest, queste; partly from Anglo-Norman queste, Old French queste (“acquisition, search, hunt”), and partly from their source, Latin quaesta (“tribute, tax, inquiry, search”), noun use of quaesita, the feminine past participle of quaerere (“to ask, seek”).
Pronunciation
Noun
quest (plural quests)
- A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.
- William Shakespeare
- Cease your quest of love.
- 2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist[1], volume 101, number 1, page 64:
- In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.
- William Shakespeare
- The act of seeking, or looking after anything; attempt to find or obtain; search; pursuit.
- to rove in quest of game, of a lost child, of property, etc.
- (obsolete) Request; desire; solicitation.
- Herbert
- Gad not abroad at every quest and call / Of an untrained hope or passion.
- Herbert
- (obsolete) A group of people making search or inquiry.
- William Shakespeare
- The senate hath sent about three several quests to search you out.
- William Shakespeare
- (obsolete) Inquest; jury of inquest.
- 1609, Wiiliam Shakespeare, Sonnet 46"
- To 'cide this title is impannelèd
- A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart, 10
- And by their verdict is determined
- The clear eye's moiety and the dear heart's part […] }
- 1609, Wiiliam Shakespeare, Sonnet 46"
Derived terms
Translations
journey or effort in pursuit of a goal
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search
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Verb
quest (third-person singular simple present quests, present participle questing, simple past and past participle quested)
- To seek or pursue a goal; to undertake a mission or job.
- To search for; to examine.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir T. Herbert to this entry?)
- (entomology, of a tick) To locate and attach to a host animal.
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Partly from Anglo-Norman queste, Old French queste, and partly from their source, Latin quaesta.
Pronunciation
Noun
quest (plural questes)
- (Late Middle English) A legal inquest or investigation; a session of court.
- (Late Middle English) A group or body of jurors
- (rare) A body of judges or other individuals commissioned to make a decision or verdict
- (rare) The decision or verdict reached by such a body of judges.
- (rare) A quest, mission, or search.
- (rare) The finding of prey by hunting dogs during a hunt.
- (rare, Late Middle English) The howling upon finding prey by hunting dogs during a hunt.
- (rare, Late Middle English) A petition or asking.
Related terms
Descendants
References
- “quest(e (n.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-2.
Romagnol
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *eccu istu, from Latin eccum istum. Compare Italian questo.
Pronoun
quest (feminine singular questa)
- this one, this
- Quest l'è un mond zneno, e nost mond.
- This is a small world, our world.
- Questa l'è una cittadina bela.
- This is a beautiful city.
- Quest l'è un mond zneno, e nost mond.
Romansch
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *eccu istu, from Latin eccum istum. Compare Italian questo.
Pronoun
quest
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- 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/ɛst
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- Requests for quotations/Sir T. Herbert
- en:Entomology
- en:Directives
- Middle English terms borrowed from Anglo-Norman
- Middle English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms borrowed from Latin
- Middle English terms derived from Latin
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Late Middle English
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- enm:Directives
- enm:Hunting
- enm:Law
- Romagnol terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Romagnol terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Romagnol terms inherited from Latin
- Romagnol terms derived from Latin
- Romagnol lemmas
- Romagnol pronouns
- Romansch terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Romansch terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Romansch terms inherited from Latin
- Romansch terms derived from Latin
- Romansch lemmas
- Romansch pronouns