gist

noun \ ˈjist \

Definition of gist

1 :the ground (see ¹ground 2a) of a legal action

2 :the main point or part :essence

the gist of an argument

See gist defined for English-language learners

See gist defined for kids

gist was our Word of the Day on 05/06/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of gist in a Sentence

Thus, Poulterers' Case gave rise to a doctrine which survives to this day: the gist of conspiracy is the agreement, and so the agreement is punishable even if its purpose was not achieved. —Wayne R. LaFave & Austin W. Scott, Jr., Criminal Law, (1972) 1986
… Einstein showed how time intervals depend on the motion of people and clocks doing the measuring. And that's the gist of relativity. —Alan Lightman, Science, January/February 1984
Dorothea told him that she had seen Lydgate, and recited the gist of her conversation with him about the Hospital. —George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1872
didn't catch every word between them, but heard enough to get the gist of the conversation

Recent Examples of gist from the Web

The gist of the message: Be mindful of the slick greens.

— tod leonard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Lucy Li's admiration for Mickey Wright grows at Women's Am in S.D.," 7 Aug. 2017
The gist: Home wins have been given less weight, and wins away from home more.

— mark zeigler, sandiegouniontribune.com, "New NCAA Tournament criteria could help SDSU," 14 July 2017
The gist: straightforward and casual daywear, cleanness, and slightly edgy.

— nick remsen, Vogue, "A Few Moments and Memories From New York Fashion Week: Men’s," 14 July 2017
The story varies, but the gist of it is that a god and goddess have a baby who dies.

— eva botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, "Using a taro patch in Hawaii, this couple teaches the islands’ values to youths," 13 July 2017
Here’s the gist (my italics): Consider, for example, the period from 1994 to 2008, when per capita incarceration rose every year.

— andrew sullivan, Daily Intelligencer, "Why Republicans Let Trump Take Over Their Party," 7 July 2017
For those who missed Tuesday’s finale, which takes place a year after last week’s installment, here’s the gist, give or take a few thousand plot points.

— laura bradley, vanityfair.com, "How That Bonkers Pretty Little Liars Ending Came Together," 28 June 2017
For those who missed Tuesday’s finale, which takes place a year after last week’s installment, here’s the gist, give or take a few thousand plot points.

— laura bradley, HWD, "How That Bonkers Pretty Little Liars Ending Came Together," 28 June 2017
The gist: Rs will say that any problems with HC come November 2018 are the aftershock of Obamacare.

— jeet heer, New Republic, "Republicans Are Lying Their Way Toward a Health Care Catastrophe," 27 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The gist of the conversation was that .... The word gist often appears in such contexts to let us know that what follows will be a statement or summary that in some way encapsulates the main point or overarching theme. The gist of a conversation, argument, story, or what-have-you is what we rely on when the actual words and details are only imperfectly recalled, inessential, or too voluminous to recount in their entirety. Gist was borrowed from the Anglo-French legal phrase "[cest] action gist" ("[this] action lies") in the early 18th century, and was originally used in legal contexts as a term referring to the foundation or grounds for a legal action without which that action would not be legally sustainable.

Origin and Etymology of gist

Anglo-French, it lies, from gisir to lie, ultimately from Latin jacēre — more at adjacent

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1711

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gist Synonyms

Synonyms

bottom line, bull's-eye, centerpiece, core, essence, crux, heart, kernel, keynote, meat, meat and potatoes, net, nub, nubbin, nucleus, pith, pivot, point, root, sum

Related Words

course, direction, drift, tenor; body, content, substance; hypothesis, proposition, purport, subject, theme, thesis

GIST Defined for Kids

gist

noun \ ˈjist \

Definition of gist for Students

:the main point of a matter

He spoke so fast, I only got the gist of the story.

Law Dictionary

gist

noun \ ˈjist \

legal Definition of gist

:the ground or foundation of a legal action without which it would not be sustainable

Origin and Etymology of gist

Anglo-French, in the phrase laccion gist the action lies or is based (on), from gisir to lie (of process), from Old French gesir to lie, ultimately from Latin jacere