Definition of 'gist'
singular noun
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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Word Frequency
gist in British English
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C18: from Anglo-French, as in cest action gist en this action consists in, literally: lies in, from Old French gésir to lie, from Latin jacēre, from jacere to throw
Word Frequency
gist in American English
noun
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME giste < OFr, abode, point at issue < 3d pers. sing., pres. indic., of gesir, to lie < L jacere, to lie; sense infl. by Anglo-Fr legal phrase l'action gist, lit., the action lies
Word Frequency
gist in American English
(dʒɪst)
noun
SYNONYMS 1. essence, point, substance, burden, kernel, import.Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1720–30; ‹ AF (cest action) gist (this matter) lies, 3rd sing. pres. indic. of AF, OF gesir to lie ‹‹ L jacēre]Examples of 'gist' in a sentence
gist
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gist
British English: gist
NOUN /dʒɪst/
the gist of The gist of a speech, conversation, or piece of writing is its general meaning.
He related the gist of his conversation to this man.
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