gesture

gesture

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin gestūra (“a mode of action”), from Latin gerō (“to bear; (reflexive) bear oneself, behave, act”), past participle gestus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒest͡ʃə/, /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɚ/, /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɝ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst͡ʃə(ɹ)

Noun

gesture (plural gestures)

1. A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech.

   The middle-finger gesture is really a nonverbal swear.

   This Web browser can be controlled with mouse gestures.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, / In every gesture dignity and love.

2. An act or a remark that serves as a formality or as a sign of attitude.

   We took flowers as a gesture of sympathy.

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “2/4/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎:

     But, with a gesture, she put a period to this dalliance—one shouldn't palter so on an empty stomach, she might almost have said.

3. (graphical user interface) A motion made with a pointing device, or on a touchscreen, that is recognised by the system as a command.
4. (obsolete) The manner of carrying the body; position of the body or limbs; posture.
   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], OCLC 152706203:

     Accubation, or lying down at meals, was a gesture used by very many nations.

Related terms

• countergesture
• gesticulate
• gesticulation
• gesticulative
• gestural
• gestureless
• gesturelike
• gesturement
• gesture politics
• gesturer

Translations

motion of the limbs or body

Albanian: gjest (sq) m American Sign Language: FlatB@InsideChesthigh-FlatB@InsideChesthigh CirclesMidline-CirclesMidline Arabic: لَفْتَة‎ f (lafta), إِشَارَة‎ f (ʾišāra) Armenian: շարժում (hy) (šaržum), ժեստ (hy) (žest) Azerbaijani: jest (az) Belarusian: жэст m (žest), целару́х m (cjelarúx) Bengali: ইশারা (bn) (iśara), সংকেত (bn) (sôṅket) Bulgarian: жест (bg) m (žest) Burmese: အမူအရာ (my) (a.mua.ra) Catalan: gest (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 手勢／手势 (zh) (shǒushì), 姿勢／姿势 (zh) (zīshì) Czech: gesto (cs) n Danish: gestus c Dutch: gebaar (nl) n, geste (nl) f (literary) Esperanto: gesto (eo) Estonian: žest Finnish: ele (fi), liike (fi) French: geste (fr) m, signe (fr) Galician: xesto (gl) m, aceno (gl) m, visaxe m Georgian: ჟესტი (žesṭi), მოძრაობა (ka) (moʒraoba) German: Geste (de) f, Gebärde (de) f Hebrew: מחווה \\ מֶחֱוָה‎ f (mekhvá) Hindi: इशारा (hi) m (iśārā), संकेत (hi) (saṅket) Hungarian: gesztus (hu), mozdulat (hu) Icelandic: látbragð (is) n Italian: gesto (it) Japanese: ジェスチャー (jesuchā) Kazakh: ым (ym) Khmer: កាយវិការ (km) (kaayvikaa) Korean: 제스처 (ko) (jeseucheo) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: îşaret (ku) Kyrgyz: жаңдоо (ky) (jaŋdoo) Latin: gestus (la) m Latvian: žests m Lithuanian: gestas m Macedonian: гест m (gest) Mongolian: Cyrillic: дохио (mn) (doxio) Mongolian: ᠳᠣᠬᠢᠶ᠎ᠠ (doqiy'a) Norwegian: Bokmål: gest m Nynorsk: gest m Pashto: اشاره‎ (ps) Persian: ژست‎ (fa) (žest), اشاره‎ (fa) (ešâre) Polish: gest (pl) m Portuguese: gesto (pt) m, sinal (pt) Romanian: gest (ro) n Russian: жест (ru) m (žest), телодвиже́ние (ru) n (telodvižénije) Scottish Gaelic: gluasad m Serbo-Croatian: gesta (sh) f Cyrillic: ге̏ст m Roman: gȅst (sh) m Slovak: gesto (sk) n Slovene: gesta f, kretnja f Spanish: gesto (es) m, ademán (es) Swedish: gest (sv) c, åtbörd (sv) c Tajik: имову ишора (imovu išora), ишора (tg) (išora), ишорат (išorat) Tatar: ишарә (tt) (işarä) Thai: ท่าทาง (th) (tâa-taang) Turkish: işaret (tr), jest (tr), (medicine) gesture (tr), el kol hareketi, baş hareketi, el hareketi, kol hareketi Turkmen: yşarat Ukrainian: жест m (žest), ві́друх m (vídrux) Urdu: اشاره‎ m (iśārā) Uyghur: ئىشارەت‎ (isharet) Uzbek: imo (uz), ishora (uz), ishorat (uz) Vietnamese: cử chỉ (vi), bộ tịch (vi) Yiddish: זשעסט‎ m (zhest)

act or remark

Armenian: ժեստ (hy) (žest) Catalan: gest (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 表示 (zh) (biǎoshì) Czech: gesto (cs) n Dutch: gebaar (nl) n, geste (nl) f Finnish: ele (fi), ilmaus (fi) French: geste (fr) m Galician: sinal (gl) m, xesto (gl) m Georgian: ჟესტი (žesṭi), ნიშანი (nišani) German: Geste (de) f Hebrew: גֶ׳סְטָה‎ f (jes'tá) (colloquial) Latvian: žests m Norwegian: Bokmål: gest m Nynorsk: gest m Portuguese: gesto (pt) m Russian: жест (ru) m (žest), посту́пок (ru) m (postúpok) Serbo-Croatian: gesta (sh) f, gest (sh) m Slovak: gesto (sk) n Spanish: gesto (es) m, detalle (es) m, atención (es) f Swedish: gest (sv) c

Verb

gesture (third-person singular simple present gestures, present participle gesturing, simple past and past participle gestured)

1. (intransitive) To make a gesture or gestures.

   My dad told me never to gesture with my hands when I talk.

   Never gesture at someone using your middle finger: it may be perceived as an insult.

2. (transitive) To express something by a gesture or gestures.

   He gestured his disgust.

3. (transitive) To accompany or illustrate with gesture or action.
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, OCLC 931154958, (please specify the page):

     It is not orderly read, nor gestured as beseemeth.

Synonyms

• ((intransitive) make a gesture): gesticulate

Hyponyms

• ((intransitive) make a gesture): beckon

Translations

to make a gesture

American Sign Language: FlatB@InsideChesthigh-FlatB@InsideChesthigh CirclesMidline-CirclesMidline Bulgarian: жестикулирам (bg) (žestikuliram) Chinese: Mandarin: 做手势, 做手勢／做手势 (zuò shǒushì) Esperanto: gesti Finnish: elehtiä (fi); osoittaa (fi) (gesture at) German: gestikulieren (de) Maori: tuone, ohaoha Portuguese: gesticular (pt) Russian: жестикули́ровать (ru) impf (žestikulírovatʹ) Slovak: gestikulovať Swedish: gestikulera (sv)

to express something by a gesture

Chinese: Mandarin: 表示 (zh) (biǎoshì) Dutch: gebaren (nl) Finnish: elehtiä (fi), osoittaa eleellään German: (jemandem etwas) bedeuten Maori: whakapuwheto (to show contempt) Portuguese: gesticular (pt) Swedish: gestikulera (sv)

See also

• Appendix:Gestures

Further reading

• gesture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• gesture in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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Alemannic German

Adjective

gesture

1. Alternative form of gesturm

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Latin

Participle

gestūre

1. vocative masculine singular of gestūrus