Advertisement

Origin and history of hest

hest(n.)

"bidding, command," Old English hæs "bidding, behest, command," from Proto-Germanic *hait-ti-, from *haitan "to call, name" (see behest). With unetymological -t added in Middle English on model of other pairings (compare wist/wesan, also whilst, amongst, etc.; see amidst).

Entries linking to hest

amidst(prep.)

a variant of amid (q.v.) with adverbial genitive -s and unetymological -t. Amidde became amyddes (13c.) and acquired the -t from mid-15c., probably by association with superlatives in -st; the pattern also yielded amongst, against, betwixt, whilst, also archaic alongst (13c.-17c.).

There is a tendency to use amidst more distributively than amid, e.g. of things scattered about, or a thing moving, in the midst of others. [OED]
amongst(prep., adv.)

"among," mid-13c., amonges, from among with adverbial genitive -s. The unetymological -t is attested from 16c. (compare amidst).

Advertisement

More to explore

behest
c. 1200, biheste, "a promise or pledge," from Old English behæs "a vow," perhaps from behatan "to promise" (from be- + hatan "command, call") and confused with obsolete hest "command," which may account for the unetymological -t as well as the Middle English shift in meaning to "
wist
"to know" (archaic), c. 1500, from Old English past tense of witan "to know" (cognate with German wusste, past tense of wissen "to know"); see wit. Had-I-wiste was used c. 1400-1550 in sense "regret for something done rashly or heedlessly;" see wist. Proverbial in expression Had-
horse
.); for Dutch paard, German Pferd, see palfrey; for Swedish häst, Danish hest see henchman....
restroom
also rest room, rest-room, 1887, "room set aside for rest and quiet" (in a workplace, public building, etc.); see rest (n.1) + room (n.). As these often later had (or were required to have) accessory toilet-rooms, by 1930s the word came to be a euphemism for "lavatory, toilet."
constellation
early 14c., constellacioun, "position of a planet in the zodiac;" late 14c., "one of the recognized star patterns handed down from antiquity" (in the zodiac or not), from Old French constellacion "constellation, conjuncture (of planets)" and directly from Late Latin constellation
pamphlet
"small, unbound treatise," late 14c., pamflet, "brief written text; poem, tract, small book," from Anglo-Latin panfletus, which probably is a popular short form of "Pamphilus, seu de Amore" ("Pamphilus, or about Love"), a short 12c. Latin love poem popular and widely copied in th
oblivion
late 14c., oblivioun, "state or fact of forgetting, forgetfulness, loss of memory," from Old French oblivion (13c.) and directly from Latin oblivionem (nominative oblivio) "forgetfulness; a being forgotten," from oblivisci (past participle oblitus) "forget," which is of uncertain
discreet
late-14c., "morally discerning, prudent, circumspect, wise or judicious in avoiding mistakes," from Old French discret "discreet, sensible, intelligent, wise," from Latin discretus "separated, distinct," in Medieval Latin "discerning, careful," past participle of discernere "to s
sojourn
c. 1300, sojournen, "stay temporarily, dwell for a time; visit as a temporary resident;" also "reside permanently, dwell;" from Old French sojorner "stay or dwell for a time," from Vulgar Latin *subdiurnare "to spend the day" (source also of Italian soggiornare). This is a compou
conceit
late 14c., "a thought, a notion, that which is mentally conceived," from conceiven (see conceive) based on analogy of deceit/deceive and receipt/receive. The sense evolved from "something formed in the mind" to "fanciful or witty notion, ingenious thought" (1510s), to "vanity, ex

Share hest

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near hest
Advertisement