quest

A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.

Noun

  1. A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.
    • the hero's quest
    • Cease your quest of love. - c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount,...
    • Everything I have done pales in comparison to what I am about to achieve. I am on a quest... a quest for the most revered icon in Klingon history. An icon that predates the Klingon Empire, an icon more sacred than the...

    1. (video games, roleplaying games) A task that a player may complete in order to gain a reward or advance the story.

      • At the same time, players are not forced to complete quests in a certain order; they're allowed enough free will within the game to determine their goals and needs. - 2012, Nick Iuppa, Terry Borst, Story and Simulations...
  2. The act of seeking, or looking after anything; attempt to find or obtain; search; pursuit.
    • to rove in quest of game, of a lost child, of property, etc.
  3. A request; a desire; a solicitation.
    • Gad not abroad at every quest and call / Of an untrained hope or passion. - [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas...
  4. A group of people conducting a search or inquiry.
    • The senate hath sent about three several quests to search you out. - c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...
  5. An inquest; a jury of inquest.
    • To 'cide this title is impanneled A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart, And by their verdict is determined The clear eye's moiety and the dear heart's part […] - 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 46”, in...

Origin

From Middle English quest, queste; partly from Anglo-Norman queste, Old French queste (“acquisition, search, hunt”), and partly from their source, Latin quaesta (“tribute, tax, inquiry, search”), noun use of quaesita, the feminine past participle of quaerō (“to ask, seek”).

Forms

quests

Derived

FedEx quest fetch quest quester questful question questless questlike questline questman questmonger questward second quest sidequest subquest vision quest

Noun education

  1. A short test.
    • I had a calculus quest (not a quiz or a test, but somewhere in between...) it was on limits, and l'hopital's rule... - 1998 March 20, bill kao, “3rd per”, in alt.music.ash (Usenet):
    • However took a quest, quiz/test combination that this math progrm^([sic]) uses, and got ten out of ten on it! - 2004 September 24, Kathy, “Weekly Diary Third Semester #4”, in alt.coffee.clutch (Usenet):
    • Quests, bigger than quizzes and smaller than tests, consist of around 10 questions worth 2 points each, designed to take about 30–40 minutes. - 2015, Kathleen Gibson-Dee, “Learning Through Questing, Not Testing”, in...

Origin

Blend of quiz + test, to avoid using the word test.

Forms

quests

Verb

  1. To seek or pursue a goal; to undertake a mission or job.
  2. To search for something; to seek.
    • Next day we quested in search of our caravan, and after some pains recovered it. - 1634, Thomas Herbert, Description of the Persian Monarchy now beinge the Orientall Indyes, Iles and other ports of the Greater Asia and...
  3. To locate and attach to a host animal.

Forms

quests questing quested