zest
See also: žest
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French zeste, from Ancient Greek σχιστός (skhistós), from Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split, cleave”); from the same root as schizophrenia.
Pronunciation
Noun
zest (countable and uncountable, plural zests)
- The outer skin of a citrus fruit, used as a flavouring or garnish.
- The orange zest gives the strong flavor in this dish.
- General vibrance of flavour.
- I add zest to the meat by rubbing it with a spice mixture before grilling.
- 1959, Peter De Vries, The Tents of Wickedness, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., “The Treehouse,” Chapter 7, p. 92,[1]
- He rolled his own cigarettes from a sack of Bull Durham, spilling flakes into his beer, which no doubt gained in zest thereby.
- 1978, Joseph Singer et al. (translators), Shosha by Isaac Bashevis Singer, New York: Fawcett Crest, Part One, Chapter Five, 1, p. 99,[2]
- Bashele’s dishes tasted as good as they had when I was a child. No one could give to the borscht such a sweet-and-sour zest as Bashele.
- (by extension) Enthusiasm; keen enjoyment; relish; gusto.
- Auntie Mame had a real zest for life.
- 1728, Edward Young, Love of Fame, the Universal Passion, Satire II in The Works of the Reverend Edward Young, London: P. Brown, H. Hill & S. Payne, 1765, Volume I, p. 85,[3]
- Almighty vanity! to thee they owe
- Their zest of pleasure, and their balm of woe.
- 1807, Thomas Cogan, An Ethical Treatise on the Passions, Bath: Hazard & Binns, Part 1, Disquisition 1, Chapter 1, Section 1 “On the utility of the Passions and Affections,” p. 51,[4]
- Liberality of disposition and conduct gives the highest zest and relish to social intercourse.
- 1928, D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1995, Chapter 9, p. 101,[5]
- Once started, Mrs. Bolton was better than any book, about the lives of the people. She knew them all so intimately, and had such a peculiar, flamey zest in all their affairs, it was wonderful, if just a trifle humiliating to listen to her.
- 1962, James Baldwin, Another Country, New York: Dell, 1963, Book Two, Chapter 2, p. 221,[6]
- The singers, male and female, wore blue jeans and long hair and had more zest than talent.
- (rare) The woody, thick skin enclosing the kernel of a walnut.
- 2006, N. J. Nusha, On the Edge (Short Stories), Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, p. 85,
- The green zest of walnuts was used by the women to shine their teeth and it also gave a beautiful rust colour to their lips.
- 2006, N. J. Nusha, On the Edge (Short Stories), Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, p. 85,
Synonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from zest (noun)
Translations
enthusiasm
|
outer skin of citrus
|
Verb
zest (third-person singular simple present zests, present participle zesting, simple past and past participle zested)
Derived terms
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Noun
zest m (plural zests)
- zest (of a fruit)
Further reading
- “zest”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Swedish
Noun
zest c
- zest; the outer skin of a citrus fruit
Declension
Declension of zest | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Uncountable | ||||
Indefinite | Definite | |||
Nominative | zest | zesten | — | — |
Genitive | zests | zestens | — | — |
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛst
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with rare senses
- English verbs
- en:Cooking
- en:Citrus subfamily plants
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish terms spelled with Z
- Swedish common-gender nouns