# guest

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɛst/ · frequency rank #2,579

## Definitions
1. A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.
2. A patron or customer in a hotel etc.
3. An invited visitor or performer to an institution or to a broadcast.
4. A user given temporary access to a system despite not having an account of their own.
5. Any insect that lives in the nest of another without compulsion and usually not as a parasite.
6. An inquiline.

## Etymology
From Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr, which replaced or was merged with Old English ġiest, both from Proto-Germanic *gastiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”).
Cognate with Bavarian Gåst (“guest”), Dutch gast (“guest”), German Gast (“guest”), Luxembourgish Gaascht (“guest”), Vilamovian gost (“guest”), Yiddish גאַסט (gast, “guest”), Danish gæst (“guest, visitor”), Faroese, Icelandic gestur (“guest”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk gjest (“guest”), Swedish gäst (“guest”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts, “guest”). Doublet of host, from Latin.

## Easily confused with
- **gut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gut)
- **Gus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gus)
- **guys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-guys)
- **guns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-guns)
- **guts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-guts)
- **gums** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gums)
- **gust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gust)
- **gush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gush)
- **guilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-guilt)
- **guise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-guise)
- **gusts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gusts)
- **gusto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gusto)
- **Gwent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gwent)
- **gutsy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gutsy)
- **gusty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-gusty)
- **guests** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-guests)
- **Guetta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/guest-vs-guetta)
- **get** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/get-vs-guest)
- **GST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gst-vs-guest)
- **goes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goes-vs-guest)

## Common misspellings (7)
`geust`, `gguest`, `guesst`, `guestt`, `guets`, `guset`, `ugest`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/guest