English
gesture
Gesture comes from Medieval Latin gestūra ‘a mode of action’, from Latin gerō ‘to bear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerō‘to bear’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500gestūra‘a mode of action’
- Englishearliest quotation 1650gesture
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerō‘to bear’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500gestūra‘a mode of action’
- Englishearliest quotation 1650gesture
Earliest quotation: 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […]: “Accubation, or lying down at meals, was a gesture…”
Equivalent to gestus + -ure
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-
act, action, active, activity, agency, actor, actual, agent, strategy, suggest, agenda, essay, activate, acre, agony, ambiguous, squat, agile, ambiguity, agility, assay, agrarian, agitation, antagonist, axiom, antagonism, radium, digestion, agitate, agonist, actuator, antagonize, cogent, glucagon, samaj, actuation, inexact, digestible, agonize, stratagem, 140 more
through Latin gerō ‘to bear’
register, suggestion, congestion, digest, belligerent, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, ingest, agger, gerund, gestion, 14 more
Today it means
noun A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / gesture