gist

Meaning

1. The main idea or substance, or the most essential part, of a longer or more complicated matter; the crux, the heart, the pith.
2. The essential ground for action in a lawsuit, without which there is no cause of action; the gravamen.
3. Gossip, rumour; (countable) an instance of this.

essence

core

main point

essential part

main points

main object

main meaning

general idea

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/d͡ʒɪst/

The noun is derived from Old French gist, a noun use of the third person singular indicative of gesir (“to lie down”) (modern French gésir; compare Anglo-Norman (cest) action gist (literally “(law) (this) action lies”)), from Latin iacēre, the present active infinitive of iaceō (“to lie down, lie prostrate, recline”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- (“to throw”) (probably in the sense of something being thrown down). The verb is derived from the noun.