geest

A substantivization of Low German güst (“dry and infertile”, adjective), from Middle Low German gēst (“dry, elevated”, literally “cracking, gaping, yawning”), from Old Saxon gīnan, from Proto-West Germanic *gīnan.[1] See also German gähnen.

• IPA^(key): /ɡiːst/
• Rhymes: -iːst

geest (plural geests)

1. A type of slightly raised landscape, with sandy and gravelly soils, that occurs in the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark.
   • 1827, Georges Cuvier, Robert Jameson (translator), Essay on the Theory of the Earth

     the waves, beating agaiņst the geest, were thence repelled upon the marsch.

• geest on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Teges, egest

• IPA^(key): /ɣeːst/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: geest
• Rhymes: -eːst

From Middle Dutch gêest, from Old Dutch gēst, geist, from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeysd-, *ǵʰisd- (“anger, agitation”).

geest m (plural geesten, diminutive geestje n)

1. ghost, spirit, immaterial being

   Geloof jij dat er een geest in een wonderlamp kan zitten?

   Do you believe that a genie can reside in a magical lamp?

2. mind, mental consciousness

   Soaps kijken en smartlappen luisteren is schadelijk voor de geest.

   Watching soap operas and listening to sentimental pop ditties is pernicious for the mind.

3. mindset, mentality

   Het is in de geest van deze tijd om vooral te genieten van het leven.

   Focusing on enjoying life is part of the modern mindset.

4. life force, vital energy
5. (alchemy) spirit, gas, distillate, essence

• Afrikaans: gees
• Negerhollands: geest

From Middle Dutch geest, from Old Dutch *gēst, a nominalization of an adjective that meant “dry, infertile”, a derivation of Proto-Germanic *gais- (“infertile”), a root probably meaning "cracking, breaking, gaping;" see *gīnan.[1] See also German gähnen.

Cognate to West Frisian gaast, geast (as in the Dutch/Frisian place name Gaasterland) and German Geest (which is borrowed from Low German). Other derivations of *gais- are: Old English gæsne (“infertility, poverty”), Old French gast (“waste”) and Icelandic gisinn (“dry”).[2][3]

geest m (plural geesten, diminutive geestje n)

1. heath, heathland

• geestgrond

- toponyms:

• steeg, stege, geste

geest

1. Alternative form of gesten (“to read poetry”)