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quest

(kwĕst)

1. The act or an instance of seeking or pursuing something; a search.

2. An expedition undertaken in medieval romance by a knight in order to perform a prescribed feat: the quest for the Holy Grail.

3. Archaic

a. An inquest.

b. A jury appointed to take part in an inquest.

v.intr. quest·ed, quest·ing, quests

1. To search for something: quested for knowledge.

2. To go on a quest.

3. To search for game or bay when sighting game, as a hound.

[Middle English queste, from Old French, ultimately from Latin quaesta, from feminine of *quaestus, obsolete past participle of quaerere, to seek.]

quester n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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