Quest Meaning
/kwɛst/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.
nounA journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission., A task that a player may complete in order to gain a reward or advance the story.
Sentence Examples
They explored the desert in quest of buried treasure.
Gulliver traveled in quest of adventure.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hero's ____ for the magical sword required him to solve three riddles.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The knight embarked on a dangerous ____ to find the sacred artifact hidden in the distant mountains.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
"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 Torch of G'boj -- More revered than Sabak's armor, and more coveted than the Emperor's crown!"
— 1995, “The Sword of Kahless”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 8, spoken by Kor, →OCLC:
"In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans."
— 2013 January 26, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2017, page 64:
"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 for Serious Games: Tales from the Trenches, New York and London: Focal Press, →ISBN, page 214:
"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 Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hero's ____ for the magical sword required him to solve three riddles.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The knight embarked on a dangerous ____ to find the sacred artifact hidden in the distant mountains.