jester

See also: Jester and ještěr

English

Jesters

Etymology

From Middle English gestour; equivalent to jest +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛs.tə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛs.tɚ/
• Homophone: gestor
• Rhymes: -ɛstə(ɹ)

Noun

jester (plural jesters)

1. One who jests, jokes or teases.
   • 2025 February 26, Roy Rivenburg, “Nellie Bowles of The Free Press punctures pretension left and right”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎^[1], Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 November 2025:

     As resident jester at the maverick journalism outlet The Free Press, Nellie Bowles scours the news for the absurd and hypocritical, and then skewers the best of the worst in her column, TGIF.

2. A person in colourful garb and fool's cap who amused a medieval and early modern royal or noble court.
3. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Southeast Asian genus Symbrenthia.

Synonyms

• (one who jokes): buffoon, clown, joker, see also Thesaurus:joker
• (court entertainer): buffoon, clown, fool, jestress, see also Thesaurus:jester

Hyponyms

• (person who amused a medieval court): harlequin, pantaloon

Derived terms

• court jester
• jestermaxx

Translations

one who jests — see also buffoon,‎ joker

• Arabic: بَهْلُول m (bahlūl)
• Belarusian: жартаўні́к m (žartawník), жарто́ўнік m (žartównik)
• Bulgarian: шегоби́ец (bg) m (šegobíec)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: šašek (cs) m
• Esperanto: amuzanto
• Finnish: vitsailija (fi), vitsiniekka (fi)
• French: plaisantin (fr) m
• Galician: alvardán m, bufón m, arlequín (gl) m
• Georgian: ხუმარა (ka) (xumara), მასხარა (ka) (masxara), ოხუნჯი (ka) (oxunǯi), ტაკიმასხარა (ṭaḳimasxara)
• German: Spaßmacher (de) m, Spaßmacherin (de) f, Clown (de) m, Clownin (de) f, Hampelmann (de) m, Hampelfrau f, Narr (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: γελωτοποιός m (gelōtopoiós)

• Latin: balatrō m
• Lithuanian: klounas m
• Macedonian: шега́џија m (šegádžija), шего́биец m (šegóbiec), сме́шник m (sméšnik)
• Māori: kiri hangareka
• Pashto: ټوکي (ps) m (ṭoki)
• Polish: błazen (pl) m
• Portuguese: brincalhão (pt) m
• Russian: шутни́к (ru) m (šutník), шутни́ца (ru) f (šutníca), остря́к (ru) m (ostrják) (derogatory)
• Spanish: truhán (es) m
• Swedish: gycklare (sv) c or c pl
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: لطیفه‌جی (latifeci)

• Ukrainian: жартівни́к m (žartivnýk), жартівни́ця f (žartivnýcja), жарту́н m (žartún)

person who amused a medieval court — see court jester

Verb

jester (third-person singular simple present jesters, present participle jestering, simple past and past participle jestered)

1. (intransitive) To act in a foolish or clownish way for the purpose of entertainment or attracting attention.

Synonyms

• jest
• jestermaxxing

Anagrams

• rejets

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse jǫstr, from Proto-Germanic *jestuz, whence English yeast.

Alternative forms

• jest

Noun

jester m (definite singular jesteren, indefinite plural jestere or jestre or jestrer, definite plural jesterne or jestrene)

1. yeast

   Synonym: gjær

Related terms

• ese

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• Homophone: gjester

Noun

jester m

1. indefinite plural of jest

References

• “jester” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• jest
• gjester (non-standard since 1938)

Etymology

From Old Norse jǫstr, from Proto-Germanic *jestuz, whence also English yeast. Doublet of jest.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɛs.tər/

Noun

jester m (definite singular jesteren, indefinite plural jestrar, definite plural jestrane)

1. yeast

   Synonym: gjær

Related terms

• asa, ase
• esa, ese

References

• “jester” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.