Zest

How to spell zest

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce zest

What does zest mean?

1. nounGreat energy, keenness, or enjoyment brought to an activity.
2. nounThe grated outer coloured skin of a citrus fruit, used to add flavour.

Zest in a sentence

• She tackled the new project with real zest and finished early.

• The recipe calls for the zest of one lemon stirred into the batter.

• Retirement gave him a fresh zest for travel and hobbies.

• A little orange zest brightens the flavour of the cake.

Where does zest come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the 1600s from the French zeste, which named the thick outer skin of an orange or lemon, the very part cooks pared off to flavour a dish or a drink. The French word's deeper origin is genuinely uncertain, and dictionaries note no secure source beyond French itself. Because the citrus peel carried a sharp, lively tang, English speakers soon stretched the meaning figuratively, so that by the early 1700s zest also meant a keen relish or enthusiasm for life. The two senses still live side by side today: the literal grated peel in a kitchen and the spirited energy a person brings to an activity. The spelling stays close to its French parent, keeping the simple z, and that single voiced consonant is the only thing a writer needs to watch.

How the word is built

• zest (a single root borrowed whole; no prefix or suffix)