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quest
[ kwest ]
/ kwÉst /
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noun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
to search or seek for; pursue.
OTHER WORDS FOR quest
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Origin of quest
First recorded in 1275â1325; Middle English noun queste, from Old French, from Latin quaesÄ«ta, feminine past participle of quaerere âto seekâ; Middle English verb derivative of the noun
historical usage of quest
The Middle English noun quest, originally meaning âinquest, judicial inquiry,â also, in hunting, âa search after game, baying of hounds,â comes partly from Old French queste with the same meanings. Quest also comes from Medieval Latin questa, quaesta, short for rÄs quaesita, âa thing sought out, a question,â from the feminine past participle of quaerere âto try to find, seek, seek out.â
Quest in the hunting sense âbaying of houndsâ first appears in the wonderful Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (about 1390). In Arthurian and chivalric romances, quest in the sense âan expedition undertaken by a knight or band of knights to attain a specific goalâ dates from Maloryâs Le Morte dâArthur (1485).
Quest in the hunting sense âbaying of houndsâ first appears in the wonderful Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (about 1390). In Arthurian and chivalric romances, quest in the sense âan expedition undertaken by a knight or band of knights to attain a specific goalâ dates from Maloryâs Le Morte dâArthur (1485).
OTHER WORDS FROM quest
quester, nounquest·ing·ly, adverbun·quest·ed, adjectiveWords nearby quest
ques., quesadilla, qué serå, serå, Quesnay, queso, quest, question, questionable, questionary, questioning, questionless
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use quest in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for quest
quest
/ (kwÉst) /
noun
verb (mainly intr)
Derived forms of quest
quester, nounquesting, adjectivequestingly, adverbWord Origin for quest
C14: from Old French queste, from Latin quaesita sought, from quaerere to seek
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with quest
quest
see under in search of.
The American HeritageÂź Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.