Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: geste 'action', from Latin gesta (plural), from gerere 'to behave, perform'

jest

1 noun
     
jest1 [countable] formal
something you say that is intended to be funny, not serious [= joke]:
I wasn't sure whether to treat her words as a jest.
in jest
His serious face told me that he was not speaking in jest.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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