Meanings
plural geests
- A type of slightly raised landscape, with sandy and gravelly soils, that occurs in the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark.
the waves, beating agaiņst the geest, were thence repelled upon the marsch.
1827, Georges Cuvier, translated by Robert Jameson, Essay on the Theory of the Earth
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*gais-“infertile”
- Middle Low Germangēst“dry, elevated”
- Low Germangüst“dry, infertile”
- GermanGeest
- Englishgeest
Borrowed from German Geest (from Low German güst (“dry, infertile”, adjective), from Middle Low German gēst (“dry, elevated”, literally “cracking, gaping, yawning”)) or Dutch geest (from Middle Dutch geest, from Old Dutch *gēst (“dry, infertile”)), in either case a substantivization of what was initially an adjective, Proto-Germanic *gais- (“infertile”), ultimately probably from *gīnan. See also German gähnen.
More words from German, Low German, Middle Low German
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with geest
Anagrams
Cite this entry
geest. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geest
“geest.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geest. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “geest,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geest.
Source: geest on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.