Gongorism

Pronounced: GONG-uh-riz-uhm, noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word

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Yesterday’s word

The word gest means

• a tale of adventures (especially a romance in verse)
• adventure; exploit

First usage

Our word came into English early: in the mid 1200s

Background / Comments

I knew of “jest”, but our word is unknown to me. It comes from the Old French word geste (action; exploit) which came from the Latin word gesta (exploits), which is the neuter plural past participle of gerere (to carry on; to perform). Our word tends to be used with medieval times – knights and heroes. The word is used in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra.