Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “quest” come from?

Quest comes from Middle English quest, from Old French queste, from Latin quaesta, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷet-, meaning to ask or seek.

quest (English): A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal ; a...

Definitions

  1. A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal ; a...

Ancestry of “quest”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishquestA legal inquest or investigation; a session of...
2Anglo-Normanquestesearch; act, instance of searching
3Latinquaestatribute, tax, inquiry, search
4Latinquaesitanominative feminine singular of quaesītus;...
5Latinquaesitussought for, having been sought for; asked, having...
6Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
7Proto-Italic-tus—
8Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “quest”

  • questing
  • quester
  • questingly
  • questless
  • questlike
  • questful
  • questward
  • sidequest
  • questline
  • questmonger
  • subquest
  • questman
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →