guest

See also: Guest

English

Etymology

From Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or was merged with Old English ġiest, both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”). Cognate with German Gast (“guest”), Norwegian gjest (“guest”). Doublet of host, from Latin.

Pronunciation

• enPR: gĕst, IPA^(key): /ɡɛst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst
• Homophone: guessed

Noun

guest (plural guests)

1. A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.

   The guests were let in by the butler.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.

2. A patron or customer in a hotel etc.

   Guests must vacate their rooms by 10 o'clock on their day of departure.

3. An invited visitor or performer to an institution or to a broadcast.

   special guest

   The guest for the broadcast was a leading footballer.

4. (computing) A user given temporary access to a system despite not having an account of their own.
5. (zoology) Any insect that lives in the nest of another without compulsion and usually not as a parasite.
6. (zoology) An inquiline.

Translations

recipient of hospitality

• Adyghe: хьакӏэ (ḥakʼɛ)
• Afrikaans: gas (af)
• Ahom: 𑜁𑜢𑜀𑜫 (khik)
• Ainu: sinewe kur
• Albanian: mnor mysafir (sq) m, vizitor (sq) m
• Amharic: እንግዳ (ʾəngəda)
• Arabic: ضَيْف m or f (ḍayf), زَائِر m (zāʔir)

  Egyptian Arabic: ضيف m (ḍēf)

  Moroccan Arabic: ضِيف m (ḍif)

• Aragonese: huesped
• Armenian: հյուր (hy) (hyur)
• Aromanian: oaspe, musafir
• Assamese: আলহী (alohi)
• Asturian: güéspede m, güéspeda f
• Azerbaijani: qonaq (az), müsafir, mehman
• Baluchi: مہمان (mihmán), میمان (memán)
• Bashkir: ҡунаҡ (qunaq)
• Basque: ostalari
• Bats: ჰ̡აშ (h̡aš), ჰ̡აშე̆ (h̡ašĕ)
• Belarusian: госць m (hoscʹ), го́сця f (hóscja)
• Bengali: অতিথি (bn) (otithi), মেহমান (bn) (mehman)
• Bhojpuri: मेहमान (mēhᵊmān)
• Bulgarian: гост (bg) m (gost), го́стенка f (góstenka)
• Burmese: ဧည့်သည် (my) (e-ny.sany), ဧည့် (my) (e-ny.)
• Catalan: convidat (ca) m, hoste (ca) m
• Cebuano: bisita
• Chechen: хьеша (ḥʳeša)
• Chichewa: mlendo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 人客 (jan⁴ haak³), 客人 (haak³ jan⁴)

  Dungan: кижын (kiřɨn)

  Eastern Min: 人客 (nè̤ng-káh)

  Gan: 人客 (nyin⁴ kah⁶)

  Hokkien: 人客 (zh-min-nan) (lâng-kheh, lâng-kheeh)

  Jin: 客人 (kah⁴ reng¹ / qieh⁴ reng¹)

  Mandarin: 客人 (zh) (kèrén), 來賓 / 来宾 (zh) (láibīn), 來客 / 来客 (zh) (láikè)

  Wu: 客人 (⁷khaq-gnin)

  Xiang: 人客 (zhen² ke⁶)

• Chittagonian: গরবা (gorba)
• Chukchi: рэмкыԓьын (rėmkyḷʹyn)
• Czech: host (cs) m, hostka (cs) f
• Danish: gæst (da) c
• Dutch: gast (nl) m
• Erzya: инже (inže)
• Esperanto: gasto
• Estonian: külaline
• Faroese: gestur m
• Finnish: vieras (fi)
• French: invité (fr) m, invitée (fr) f, hôte (fr) m or f
• Friulian: forest, ospit
• Galician: hóspede (gl) m or f, convidado (gl)
• Georgian: სტუმარი (sṭumari)
• German: Gast (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts)
• Greek: επισκέπτης (el) m (episképtis)
• Gujarati: અતિથિ (atithi)
• Hebrew: אוֹרֵחַ (he) m (oréakh)
• Hindi: मेहमान (hi) m (mehmān), अतिथि (hi) m (atithi)
• Hungarian: vendég (hu)
• Icelandic: gestur (is) m
• Indonesian: tamu (id)
• Ingrian: veeras
• Ingush: хьаьаша (ḥʳäaša)
• Isan: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: ospite (it) m or f, invitato (it) m, convitato (it) m
• Japanese: 客人 (ja) (きゃくじん, kyakujin), 客 (ja) (きゃく, kyaku), (honorific) お客さん (ja) (おきゃくさん, o-kyaku-san), 来客 (ja) (らいきゃく, raikyaku), 来賓 (ja) (らいひん, raihin)
• Javanese: tamu
• Kabardian: хьащӏэ (ḥaśʼɛ), хьэщӏэ (kbd) (ḥɛśʼɛ)
• Kashubian: gòsc m
• Kazakh: қонақ (qonaq), мейман (meiman)
• Khmer: ភ្ញៀវ (km) (phñiəw), អតិថិ (km) (ʼaʼtetheʼ), អាវេសិក (km) (ʼaaveisək)
• Korean: 손님 (ko) (sonnim), 하객(賀客) (ko) (hagaek), 내빈(來賓) (ko) (naebin), 래빈(來賓) (ko) (raebin) (North Korea), 방문객(訪問客) (ko) (bangmun'gaek)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: میوان (mîwan)

  Northern Kurdish: mêvan (ku)

• Kyrgyz: конок (ky) (konok), мейман (meyman)
• Laboya: kulla
• Ladino: musafir, invitado
• Lao: ແຂກ (lo) (khǣk)
• Latgalian: gosts
• Latin: hostis (la) c, hospes (la) m
• Latvian: viesis m, ciemiņš m
• Lithuanian: svečias m
• Lü: ᦶᦃᧅᧈ (ẋaek¹), ᦖᦱᧃ (ṁaan)
• Macedonian: гостин m (gostin), гостинка f (gostinka), гост m (gost)
• Malay: tetamu
• Maltese: mistieden m
• Manchu: ᠠᠨᡨᠠᡥᠠ (antaha)
• Maori: manuhiri
• Moksha: инжи (inži)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: зочин (mn) (zočin)

  Mongolian: ᠵᠣᠴᠢᠨ (ǰočin)

• Ngazidja Comorian: mdjeni class 1/2
• Nivkh: антӽ (antẋ)
• Northern Sami: guossi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjest (no) m

• Occitan: convidat m, òste (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: гость m (gostĭ)

  Glagolitic: ⰳⱁⱄⱅⱐ m (gostĭ)

• Old East Slavic: гость m (gostĭ)
• Old English: ġiest m, cuma m
• Old Norse: gestr m
• Oromo: keessummaa
• Ossetian: уазӕг (wazæg)
• Pali: atithi m
• Pannonian Rusyn: госц m (hosc)
• Pashto: مېلمه (ps) m (melmá), رابللی m (rābalálay)
• Pela: paŋ³⁵, paŋ³¹ va⁵⁵
• Persian:

  Dari: مِهْمَان (mihmān)

  Iranian Persian: مِهْمان (mehmân)

• Plautdietsch: Gaust m
• Polabian: ďüst m
• Polish: gość (pl) m (male or female), gościni (pl) f
• Portuguese: hóspede (pt) m or f, convidado (pt) m
• Romanian: oaspete (ro) m, musafir (ro) m, musafiră (ro) f
• Romansch: giast, hosp
• Russian: гость (ru) m (gostʹ), го́стья (ru) f (góstʹja)
• Sanskrit: अतिथि (sa) m (atithi)
• Sardinian: cumbidàu
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: го̑ст m, го̀шћа f

  Roman: gȏst (sh) m, gòšća f

• Shan: ၶႅၵ်ႇ (shn) (khèk)
• Sidamo: wosina
• Slovak: hosť m, hostka f
• Slovene: gost (sl) m, gošća f, gostja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gósć m

  Upper Sorbian: hósć m

• Spanish: huésped (es) m or f, visita (es) f, visitante (es) m or f, convidado (es) m, comensal (es) m or f
• Svan: მუშგვრი (mušgvri)
• Swahili: mgeni (sw) class m-wa
• Swedish: gäst (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠇꠥꠐꠥꠝ (kuṭum)
• Tagalog: bisita (tl)
• Tajik: меҳмон (tg) (mehmon)
• Tarifit: anewji m
• Tatar: кунак (tt) (qunaq)
• Telugu: అతిథి (te) (atithi)
• Thai: แขก (th) (kɛ̀ɛk)
• Tibetan: མགྲོན་པོ (mgron po)
• Tigrinya: ጋሻ (gaša)
• Turkish: konuk (tr), misafir (tr)
• Turkmen: myhman
• Tuvan: аалчы (aalçı)
• Ukrainian: гість m (histʹ), го́стя f (hóstja)
• Urdu: مِہْمان m (mihmān)
• Uyghur: مېھمان (mëhman)
• Uzbek: mehmon (uz)
• Vietnamese: khách (vi) (客)
• Volapük: lotan (vo)
• Walloon: priyî (wa) m, invité m
• Wolof: gan (wo)
• Yiddish: גאַסט m (gast)
• Zande: gino
• Zazaki: meyman (diq) du
• Zhuang: bouxhek, hek

patron, customer

• Afrikaans: gas (af), klant (af), klient
• Arabic: زَبُون m (zabūn)
• Armenian: հաճախորդ (hy) (hačaxord)
• Basque: ostalari
• Bulgarian: посети́тел (bg) m (posetítel), клие́нт (bg) m (kliént)
• Catalan: hoste (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 顧客 / 顾客 (gu³ haak³)

  Mandarin: 顧客 / 顾客 (zh) (gùkè)

• Czech: host (cs) m
• Danish: gæst (da) c
• Dutch: gast (nl) m
• Faroese: gestur m
• Finnish: asiakas (fi), vieras (fi)
• French: client (fr) m, cliente (fr) f
• Galician: hóspede (gl) m or f
• German: Gast (de) m
• Greek: πελάτης (el) m (pelátis)
• Hebrew: אוֹרֵחַ (he) m (oréakh)
• Icelandic: gestur (is) m
• Italian: cliente (it) m or f, ospite (it) m or f
• Japanese: 客 (ja) (きゃく, kyaku), (honorific) お客さん (ja) (おきゃくさん, o-kyaku-san), 顧客 (ja) (こきゃく, kokyaku)
• Korean: 손님 (ko) (sonnim), 고객(顧客) (ko) (gogaek)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: میوان (mîwan)

• Macedonian: го́стин m (góstin)
• Old English: ġiest m, cuma m
• Polish: gość (pl) m
• Portuguese: hóspede (pt) m or f
• Russian: посети́тель (ru) m (posetítelʹ), посети́тельница (ru) f (posetítelʹnica), постоя́лец (ru) m (postojálec) (hotel), клие́нт (ru) m (klijént), клие́нтка (ru) f (klijéntka)
• Slovene: gost (sl) m, gostja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gósć m

  Upper Sorbian: hósć m

• Swedish: gäst (sv) c, hotellgäst (sv) c
• Thai: ลูกค้า (th) (lûuk-káa)
• Vietnamese: khách (vi)
• Zazaki: mışterı du or f du or n

invited performer

• Afrikaans: gaskunstenaar
• Basque: gonbidatu
• Belarusian: госць m (hoscʹ), го́сця f (hóscja)
• Bulgarian: гост (bg) m (gost), го́стенка f (góstenka)
• Catalan: invitat (ca) m, invitada (ca) f
• Czech: host (cs) m
• Danish: gæst (da) c
• Dutch: gast (nl) m
• Faroese: gestur m
• Finnish: vieras (fi)
• French: invité (fr) m, invitée (fr) f
• Galician: convidado (gl) m
• German: Gast (de) m
• Greek: φιλοξενούμενος (el) m (filoxenoúmenos), προσκεκλημένος (el) m (proskekliménos)
• Hebrew: אוֹרֵחַ (he) m (oréakh)
• Icelandic: gestur (is) m
• Italian: ospite (it) m or f
• Khiamniungan Naga: shāpāu
• Macedonian: гостин m (gostin)
• Polish: gość (pl) m
• Portuguese: convidado (pt) m, convidada f
• Russian: гость (ru) m (gostʹ), го́стья (ru) f (góstʹja)
• Slovak: hosť m, hostka f, hostia pl
• Slovene: gost (sl) m, gostja f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gósć m

• Spanish: invitado (es) m, invitada (es) f
• Swedish: gäst (sv) c, gästartist (sv) c
• Telugu: అతిథి (te) (atithi)
• Ukrainian: гість m (histʹ), го́стя f (hóstja)
• Zazaki: meyman (diq) m du or f du or n du

Verb

guest (third-person singular simple present guests, present participle guesting, simple past and past participle guested)

1. (intransitive) To appear as a guest, especially on a broadcast.
   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 254:

     During the '60s, he guested as off-beat characters on TV shows like "The Asphalt Jungle," "Bus Stop," and "The Detectives."

2. (intransitive) As a musician: to play as a guest, providing an instrument that a band/orchestra does not normally have in its line up (for instance, percussion in a string band).
3. (transitive, obsolete) To receive or entertain hospitably.
   • 1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “(please specify the page)”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC:

     Two Angels sent Two Heav'nly Scowts the Lord to Sodom sent ; downe , received and guested

Translations

to appear as a guest

• Basque: gonbidatu
• Bulgarian: гостувам (gostuvam)
• Danish: gæste
• Finnish: esiintyä vieraana
• German: gastieren (de)
• Greek: φιλοξενούμαι (el) (filoxenoúmai)
• Hebrew: התארח (hitarákh)
• Macedonian: гостува (gostuva)
• Russian: гости́ть (ru) impf (gostítʹ), (on broadcast) быть в гостя́х (bytʹ v gostjáx)
• Swedish: gästa (sv)
• Zazaki: meymaniye (diq) n or pf

to receive or entertain hospitably as a guest — see host

Derived terms

• be my guest
• cave guest
• guestage
• guest beer
• guest blogger
• guest book
• guest chair
• guestfree
• guestfriendly
• guest-friendly
• guestfriendship
• guestfriendship
• guesthouse, guest house
• guest night
• guest of Her Majesty
• guest of honour, guest of honor
• guest ranch
• guest rancher
• guest relation officer
• guest room
• guest rope
• guest speaker
• guest star
• guest-star
• guest worker
• house guest
• mystery guest
• pity guest

 

Anagrams

• tegus