Definitions for gesture
ˈdʒɛs tʃərges·ture

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.0 / 5 votes

1. gesturenoun

   motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling

2. gesture, motionnoun

   the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals

3. gestureverb

   something done as an indication of intention

   "a political gesture"; "a gesture of defiance"

4. gesticulate, gesture, motionverb

   show, express or direct through movement

   "He gestured his desire to leave"

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. gesturenoun

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

2. gesturenoun

   An act or a remark made as a formality or as a sign of attitude.

   We took flowers as a gesture of sympathy.

3. gestureverb

   To make a gesture or gestures.

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

4. gestureverb

   To express something by a gesture or gestures.

   Never gesture at someone with a middle finger.

5. Etymology: From gestura, from gerere, past participle gestus.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Gesturenoun

   Etymology: gero, gestum, Latin; geste, French.

   1. Action or posture expressive of sentiment.

   Ah, my sister, if you had heard his words, or seen his gestures, when he made me know what and to whom his love was, you would have matched in yourself, those two rarely matched together, pity and delight. Philip Sidney, b. ii.

   When we make profession of our faith, we stand; when we acknowledge our sins, or seek unto God for favour, we fall down; because the gesture of constancy becometh us best in the one, in the other the behaviour of humility. Richard Hooker.

   To the dumbness of the gesture
   One might interpret. William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens.

   2. Movement of the body.

   Grace was in all her steps, heav’n in her eye,
   In ev’ry gesture dignity and love! John Milton, Paradise Lost.

   Every one will agree in this, that we ought either to lay aside all kinds of gesture, or at least to make use of such only as are graceful and expressive. Joseph Addison, Spectator, №. 408.

2. To Gestureverb

   To accompany with action or posture.

   Etymology: from the noun.

   Our attire disgraceth it; it is not orderly read, nor gestured as beseemeth. Richard Hooker, b. v.

   Undertaking so to gesture and muffle up himself in his hood, as the duke’s manner was, that none should discern him. Henry Wotton, Life of the Duke of Buckingham.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Gesture

   A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body. Gestures differ from physical non-verbal communication that does not communicate specific messages, such as purely expressive displays, proxemics, or displays of joint attention. Gestures allow individuals to communicate a variety of feelings and thoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and affection, often together with body language in addition to words when they speak. Gesticulation and speech work independently of each other, but join to provide emphasis and meaning. Gesture processing takes place in areas of the brain such as Broca's and Wernicke's areas, which are used by speech and sign language. In fact, language is thought by some scholars to have evolved in Homo sapiens from an earlier system consisting of manual gestures. The theory that language evolved from manual gestures, termed Gestural Theory, dates back to the work of 18th-century philosopher and priest Abbé de Condillac, and has been revived by contemporary anthropologist Gordon W. Hewes, in 1973, as part of a discussion on the origin of language.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. gesture

   A gesture is a movement or position of the hands, body, or face that is expressive, symbolic, or used to communicate a particular message, idea, or emotion. Gesture can also refer to an action performed to convey one's feelings or intentions.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. Gesturenoun

   manner of carrying the body; position of the body or limbs; posture

2. Gesturenoun

   a motion of the body or limbs expressive of sentiment or passion; any action or posture intended to express an idea or a passion, or to enforce or emphasize an argument, assertion, or opinion

3. Gestureverb

   to accompany or illustrate with gesture or action; to gesticulate

4. Gestureverb

   to make gestures; to gesticulate

5. Etymology: [LL. gestura mode of action, fr. L. gerere, gestum, to bear, behave, perform, act. See Gest a deed.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Gesture

   A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body. Gestures differ from physical non-verbal communication that does not communicate specific messages, such as purely expressive displays, proxemics, or displays of joint attention. Gestures allow individuals to communicate a variety of feelings and thoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and affection, often together with body language in addition to words when they speak. Gesture processing takes place in areas of the brain such as Broca's and Wernicke's areas, which are used by speech and sign language.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Gesture

   jes′tūr, n. a posture, or movement of the body: an action expressive of sentiment or passion: (Shak.) behaviour.—adj. Ges′tural. [Low L. gestura—L. gestus, from L. gerĕre, to carry.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. gesture

   A form of communication or action.

   As a gesture of goodwill to all its customers the mobile telephone providers gave all customers unlimited data plans.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on April 18, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Communicate
   • Motion
   • Visual Communication

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'gesture' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4401

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'gesture' in Nouns Frequency: #1501

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Anagrams for gesture »

1. guester

How to pronounce gesture?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say gesture in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of gesture in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of gesture in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of gesture in a Sentence

1. Hiral Sanghavi:

   It was something we had to do. I wish I could do more. Ideally I would give them a free jacket, but I could n’t afford that, it was a small gesture, I would say, but I am glad we did it.

2. Donald Trump:

   Now, with all of that being said, and I still don't condone it, that young man walked up and he made a gesture in his air -- in the air with one of his fingers, which was not good and was not nice and was very, very horrible to see also. But despite that, I don't condone it and we don't want that to happen.

3. Middle East:

   It's a very strong public issue and it's quite emotive. As public diplomacy goes it's a very strong gesture.

4. Niki DaSilva:

   I couldn’t leave her there alone, so I positioned myself between the co-worker and the attorney general to act as a buffer, after a few moments, Attorney General Hill put his hand on my back. I was taken aback by this gesture as we had never held a conversation before that night. I felt his hand start to slide slowly down my back.

5. The Pentagon:

   The United States is grateful to the Government of Montenegro for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, the United States coordinated with the Government of Montenegro to ensure this transfer took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=gesture
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gesture
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=gesture
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gesture
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=gesture
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=gesture
9. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=gesture