DictionaryAI

guest

GEST/ɡɛst/

Pluralguests

Verbguests, guesting, guested

8 meanings of guest

Practice

  1. 1
    invited friendnouncountable
    A person who receives hospitality, especially one staying by invitation at someone else's home.

    The guest arrived an hour early and helped set the table.

    Our guests stayed until midnight, reluctant to leave the warm fire.

    UsageCommon phrases: a house guest, guest room, and be my guest (meaning go ahead).

    Similarvisitor, caller

    Oppositehost

  2. 2
    special visitornouncountable
    A person invited to visit an institution or to appear or perform on a broadcast.

    The talk show booked a famous chef as its guest for Friday.

    Tonight's musical guest performed two songs before the interview.

    UsageOften special guest or musical guest; someone appears as a guest on a show.

    Oppositehost

    Note

    The broadcasting and events use, where a guest is booked rather than housed.

  3. 3
    hotel customernouncountable
    A paying customer staying at a hotel or similar establishment.

    Guests at the resort enjoyed complimentary access to the spa.

    The front desk greeted each guest with a warm welcome.

    Similarpatron, customer, visitor, client

  4. 4
    verbintransitive
    To appear or perform as an invited guest, for example on a broadcast, with a band, or for a team that is not one's own.

    The director agreed to guest on a popular podcast.

    He guested on three different talk shows during the tour.

    UsageTakes on or as: guest on a podcast, guest as a character. Past form guested.

    Similarappear, feature

    Note

    Wayne Jancik's The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders (1990) describes an actor who "guested as off-beat characters on TV shows."

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Wayne Jancik wrote The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, first published in 1990. openlibrary.org
    • The book describes an actor using the exact words "guested as off-beat characters on TV shows." en.wiktionary.org
  5. 5
    temporary usernouncountable
    Someone given temporary use of a computer system or network despite having no account on it.

    She signed in as a guest to view the shared document.

    Guest accounts on the network expire after a single session.

    UsageSay sign in as a guest; before nouns: guest account, guest access.

    Note

    Computing borrows the household logic: a guest is let in without being one of the residents. Its counterpart is the user with an account of their own.

Less common meanings

  1. 6
    entertain at homeverbobsoletetransitive
    To receive and entertain someone with hospitality.
    Two Angels sent Two Heav'nly Scowts the Lord to Sodom sent ; downe , received and guested
    1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes
    Note

    An obsolete transitive use with the roles reversed: the host is the subject and the visitor the object, so to guest someone was to take them in. Josuah Sylvester's translation of Du Bartas has the heavenly messengers sent to Sodom "received and guested." Today the verb survives only for appearing as a guest.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Guest formerly had an obsolete transitive sense meaning to receive or entertain someone hospitably. en.wiktionary.org
    • Josuah Sylvester translated Du Bartas. en.wikisource.org
    • The translation describes heavenly messengers sent to Sodom as “received and guested.” en.wiktionary.org
  2. 7
    noun
    A virtual machine or operating system running within another computer system, the host, on hardware that the host simulates.
  3. 8
    noun
    An animal, such as an insect, that lives in the nest, burrow or home of another species, usually without harming it.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of guest apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or merged with Old English ġiest; both go back to Proto-Germanic *gastiz and Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis ("stranger, guest, host"). It is related to German Gast, Dutch gast and Swedish gäst, and is a doublet of host, which came through Latin.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

  • Guest derives from Middle English gest, borrowed from Old Norse gestr. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Norse form replaced or merged with Old English ġiest. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old Norse gestr and Old English ġiest descend from Proto-Germanic *gastiz. en.wiktionary.org
  • Proto-Germanic *gastiz descends from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis. en.wiktionary.org
  • The reconstructed Indo-European word is glossed as stranger, guest and host. en.wikipedia.org
  • Guest is related to German Gast, Dutch gast and Swedish gäst. en.wiktionary.org
  • Guest and host are doublets, with host coming through Latin. en.wikipedia.org