Zest

 WORD OF THE DAY

zest / noun / ZEST

Definition

1: a piece of the peel of a citrus fruit (such as an orange or lemon) used as flavoring

2a: an enjoyably exciting quality 

2b: PIQUANCY

3a: keen enjoyment 

3b: RELISH, GUSTO

Examples

"It has always seemed bizarre to me to start talking about the coming winter in August. But this is Jackson Hole, and the zest for snow never seems to end." — Jim Woodmencey, The Jackson Hole (Wyoming) News and Guide, 25 Aug. 2021

His humor added a certain zest to the performance.

Did You Know?

Zest can spice up your life—fitting for a word that we learned from the world of cooking. 

We borrowed the term from a source that has given English speakers many culinary delights: French cuisine. 

The French used the form zest (nowadays they spell it zeste) to refer to orange or lemon peel used to flavor food or drinks. 

English speakers developed a taste for the fruit flavoring and adopted the term zest in the late 1600s. 

By the early 1700s, they had started using the word to refer to any quality that adds enjoyment to something in the same way that the zest of an orange or lemon adds flavor to food.