quest

[kwest]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quest ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something: a quest for uranium mines; a quest for knowledge.

Medieval Romance. an adventurous expedition undertaken by a knight or knights to secure or achieve something: the quest of the Holy Grail.

those engaged in such an expedition.

British Dialect. inquest.

Obsolete. a jury of inquest.

verb (used without object)

to search; seek (often followed by for or after): to quest after hidden treasure.

to go on a quest.

Hunting. (of a dog)

to search for game.
to bay or give tongue in pursuit of game.

verb (used with object)

to search or seek for; pursue.

Origin of quest

1275–1325; (noun) Middle English queste < Old French < Latin quaesīta, feminine past participle of quaerere to seek; (v.) Middle English questen < Old French quester, derivative of the noun

Related formsquest·er, nounquest·ing·ly, adverbun·quest·ed, adjective

Synonyms for quest

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quest ON THESAURUS.COM

1. hunt, seeking, journey, mission, enterprise.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for quested

moan, growl, groan, yelp, wail, roar, whimper, hoot, outcry, shriek, grill, search, challenge, interrogate, quiz, investigate, interview, query, seek, examine

Examples from the Web for quested

Historical Examples of quested

He had quested for the difference with his ear,—and the difference lay in the feel of the sound.
The Yellow Horde
Hal G. Evarts
Well, then, Paris had quested forth to find and win the most beautiful of women.
Superwomen
Albert Payson Terhune
They shrank down in fear, and quested anxiously about with their eyes for a way of retreat.
Before Adam
Jack London
Failing in many attempts to open them, he quested food, found it, and consoled himself with it.
Futuria Fantasia, Fall 1939
Ray Bradbury
Yet it was possible that those in the catacombs were unaware how Scotland Yard, night and day, quested for Mr. King.
The Yellow Claw
Sax Rohmer

British Dictionary definitions for quested

quest

noun

the act or an instance of looking for or seeking; searcha quest for diamonds

(in medieval romance) an expedition by a knight or company of knights to accomplish some prescribed task, such as finding the Holy Grail

the object of a search; goal or targetmy quest is the treasure of the king

rare a collection of alms

verb (mainly intr)

(foll by for or after) to go in search (of)

to go on a quest

(of gun dogs or hounds)

to search for game
to bay when in pursuit of game

rare to collect alms

(also tr) archaic to go in search of (a thing); seek or pursue

Derived Formsquester, nounquesting, adjectivequestingly, adverb

Word 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

Word Origin and History for quested

quest

c.1300, "an inquest;" early 14c., "a search for something" (especially of judicial inquiries or hounds seeking game), from Old French queste "search, quest, chase, hunt, pursuit; inquest, inquiry" (12c., Modern French quête), properly "the act of seeking," and directly from Medieval Latin questa "search, inquiry," alteration of Latin quaesitus (fem. quaesita) "sought-out, select," past participle of quaerere "seek, gain, ask" (see query (n.)). Romance sense of "adventure undertaken by a knight" (especially the search for the Grail) is attested from late 14c. Johnson's dictionary has questmonger "Starter of lawsuits or prosecutions."

quest

mid-14c., "to seek game, hunt," from quest (n.) and from Old French quester "to search, hunt," from queste (n.). Related: Quested; questing.

Idioms and Phrases with quested

quest

see under in search of.