jester

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

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

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

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:

     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.

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

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

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.

• jest

• rejets

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

• jest

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

1. yeast

   Synonym: gjær

• ese

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• Homophone: gjester

jester m

1. indefinite plural of jest

• “jester” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• jest
• gjester (non-standard since 1938)

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɛs.tər/

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

1. yeast

   Synonym: gjær

• asa, ase
• esa, ese

• “jester” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.