gist

American  

[jist] / dʒɪst /

noun

• gists
  plural

1. the main or essential part of a matter.

   What was the gist of his speech?

   Synonyms:

   import, kernel, burden, substance, point, essence

2. the ground of a legal action.

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gist British  

/ dʒɪst /

noun

1. the point or substance of an argument, speech, etc

2. law the essential point of an action

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of gist

First recorded in 1720–30; from Anglo-French (cest action) gist “(this matter) lies,” 3rd-person singular present of Anglo-French, Old French gesir “to lie” (compare modern French ci-gît “here lies”), ultimately from Latin jacēre; cf. adjacent ( def. ), hic jacet ( def. )

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Explanation

When you need a quick summary of the essentials, rather than the whole story or a thorough explanation, you're looking for the gist. The word gist has had a variety of meanings in English, but most of them have become obsolete. The surviving sense of the word entered the language by way of the law: The gist of any legal action is the factor on which the action depends — that is, an alleged assault might be the gist of an indictment. The meaning of gist has evolved, though, and now it can be used to describe the core component of any matter, as in, "He watched the trailer, but he still didn't get the gist of the movie." Or, "She was having trouble writing a headline that conveyed the gist of her article."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gist gists

The exact details of the plan are not yet official, but the gist has been shared with reporters.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

The gist: Intel’s server central processing unit, or CPU, business for artificial-intelligence computing is making up for weakness in the PC chip market.

From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026

That point is also the gist of the bipartisan letter, signed by 33 Republicans and five Democrats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025

The 'time of their lives', is the gist.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025

It distracts me and I forget not just the gist of the conversation, but its entire direction as well.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

"This prompt-based LLM framework that identifies gists at scale has many potential applications that can promote better health and wellbeing."

From Science Daily ● May 13, 2024

Doran said that intelligence reports “are often gists with quotes rather than verbatim transcripts,” so it would be difficult to identify the U.S. person involved in the conversation without requesting unmasking.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2017

Instead, the inquiry has been granted permission to "disclose quotes or gists of the content" to help explain its conclusions.

From BBC ● May 30, 2014

The inquiry has revealed that an agreement has been reached on what type of "gists and quotes" will be released from 25 notes and 130 records of conversations between Blair and Bush.

From The Guardian ● May 29, 2014

I was with Lucy while it took place, but certain gists of what was said and done have come to me, some from my mother, and some from Hilda.

From We Three by Henry Hutt

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Related Words

• summary
• tenor
• upshot

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