cest
/sɛst/noun
A woman's girdle; alternative form of cestus
From Latin cestus (A woman's girdle).
Lineage
LatinGermanicnot directly attested
Selected stage
Modern English
cest — A woman's girdle; alternative form of cestus
The story
A cest is a woman's girdle, and the English word is an alternative form of cestus, from Latin. William Collins used the spelling in his 1746 “Ode on the Poetical Character,” writing, “The cest of amplest power is given.”
Sources
- Wiktionarycest