Suggest

How to spell suggest

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce suggest

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does suggest mean?

1. verbTo put forward an idea or plan for someone to consider.

Suggest in a sentence

• The report will suggest several ways to cut costs.

• The waiter may suggest a quieter table near the window.

Where does suggest come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin suggerere, which meant 'to carry up', 'to supply', or 'to bring forward', formed from the prefix sub- (here in the assimilated form sug-, meaning 'up' or 'from below') and gerere, the verb 'to carry or bring'. The literal image was of carrying something up to lay it before another person, which is why the modern sense settled on putting an idea forward for consideration. English adopted it in the mid-1500s, taking the form from the Latin past participle suggestus rather than reshaping it through French. The same gerere root carries quietly inside many English relatives such as 'gesture', 'digest', and 'register', all of which involve carrying or bearing something. The spelling trap lives in that assimilated prefix: the original sub- collapsed into a doubled g, so the word needs two g letters even though it is pronounced as one.

How the word is built

• sug- (variant of sub-: up, from below)
• gest (from Latin gerere: to carry or bring)