hest

A knight receives a hest from his king.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A command or behest: "hest" is an archaic or poetic term meaning a command, order, or bidding. It is primarily used in older literary works or formal contexts.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The knight obeyed the king's hest without question. (The knight followed the king's command without hesitation.)
  • At her father's hest, she married the nobleman. (At her father's bidding, she married the nobleman.)

Advanced Usage

• "At someone's hest": in accordance with someone's command or request.
  • The servants acted at the queen's hest. (The servants acted according to the queen's order.)

Variants and Related Words

• Behest (n): a command or urgent request; a more common modern variant of "hest."
  • He left the country at the behest of the government. (He left because the government ordered him to.)

Synonyms

• Command: an authoritative order.
• Bidding: a request or order, often in a formal sense.
• Injunction: a formal or legal order.

Related Idioms

• "At the hest of": in obedience to someone's command (archaic).
  • They raised the flag at the hest of their leader. (They raised the flag because their leader ordered it.)

Notes

• "Hest" is considered obsolete in modern everyday English, surviving mainly in historical texts, poetry, or legal phrasing. It is interchangeable with "behest" in most contexts.