# yeast

> English word · Noun · IPA /jiːst/ · frequency rank #11,824

## Definitions
1. An often humid, yellowish froth produced by fermenting malt worts, and used to brew beer, leaven bread, and also used in certain medicines.
2. A single-celled fungus of a wide variety of taxonomic families.
3. A single-celled fungus of a wide variety of taxonomic families.
4. A single-celled fungus of a wide variety of taxonomic families.
5. A single-celled fungus of a wide variety of taxonomic families.
6. A single-celled fungus of a wide variety of taxonomic families.
7. A single-celled fungus of a wide variety of taxonomic families.
8. A frothy foam.

## Etymology
From Middle English yest, yeest, gest, gist, from Old English ġist, ġyst, from Proto-West Germanic *jestu, from Proto-Germanic *jestuz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Jääst (“yeast”), West Frisian gêst, gist (“yeast”), Dutch gist (“yeast”), German Low German Gest (“yeast”), German Gischt (“sea foam”), Swedish jäst (“yeast”), Norwegian jest (“yeast”), Icelandic jöstur (“yeast”).

## Easily confused with
- **yet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yeast-vs-yet)
- **yes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yeast-vs-yes)
- **Yeats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yeast-vs-yeats)
- **yea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yea-vs-yeast)
- **yas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yas-vs-yeast)
- **yat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yat-vs-yeast)
- **year** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/year-vs-yeast)
- **yeah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yeah-vs-yeast)
- **years** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/years-vs-yeast)
- **yearn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yearn-vs-yeast)

## Common misspellings (6)
`eyast`, `yaest`, `yeasst`, `yeastt`, `yesat`, `yyeast`

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