cesta

See also: cèsta, cěsta, and česta

English

Noun

cesta (plural cestas)

1. A hook-shaped basket used to catch and throw the ball in jai alai.

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin cista, from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē).

Noun

cesta f (plural cestes)

1. basket (container)

Synonyms

• cestu

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Basque zesta. Doublet of cista.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈse̞s.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈses.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈses.ta]

Noun

cesta f (plural cestes)

1. cesta, xistera (basket used in jai alai)

   Synonym: txistera

2. clipping of cesta punta

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech cěsta, from Proto-Slavic *cěsta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɛsta]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ce‧s‧ta
• Rhymes: -ɛsta

Noun

cesta f (diminutive cestička or cestka)

1. road

   být na cestách ― to be on the way

   Se dala na cestu. ― She set off.

2. journey
3. path (graph theory)

Declension

Declension of cesta (hard feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	cesta	cesty
genitive	cesty	cest
dative	cestě	cestám
accusative	cestu	cesty
vocative	cesto	cesty
locative	cestě	cestách
instrumental	cestou	cestami

Related terms

adjectives

• cestovní
• cestující

nouns

• cestář
• cestička
• cestování
• rozcestí
• rozcestník
• scestí

verbs

• cestovat

See also

• pěšina
• silnice
• stezka
• trasa

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “cesta”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “cesta”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Galician

Etymology

Attested since the 13th century. Inherited from Latin cista, from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē), but semantically closer to Proto-Celtic *kist-: Middle Irish cess (“basket, causeway of wickerwork, beehive”), Old Welsh cest (“basket”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈθesta/ [ˈθes̺.t̪ɐ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈθesta/ [ˈθes̺.t̪ɐ]
• IPA^(key): (seseo) /ˈsesta/ [ˈses.t̪ɐ]

• Rhymes: -esta
• Hyphenation: ces‧ta

Noun

cesta f (plural cestas)

1. basket, specially larger ones without handles or with side handles
   • 1272, Ramón Lorenzo, editor, Mosteiro de Montederramo, page 469:

     darnos kada ano una cesta de peras

     give to us each year a basket of pears

2. (regional) smaller basket with a central handle

   Synonym: cesto

3. (regional) muzzle

   Synonyms: bocal, vetillo

Related terms

• cesteiro
• cesto

References

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “cesta”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cesta”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cesta”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cesta”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

From the Latin cista, from the Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē). Doublet of cista.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃes.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -esta
• Hyphenation: cé‧sta

Noun

cesta f (plural ceste)

1. basket

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• caste, steca

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sɛsta/

Adjective

cesta

1. feminine nominative singular of cesty

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃes.tɑ/

Noun

ċesta

1. nominative/accusative/genitive plural of ċest

Portuguese

Uma cesta de ovos

Uma cesta de basquete

Etymology

From Latin cista, from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē). Doublet of cista.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈses.tɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈses.tɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈseʃ.tɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈseʃ.tɐ/

• Homophone: sexta (Brazil)
• Rhymes: (Brazil) -estɐ, (Portugal, Rio de Janeiro) -eʃtɐ
• Hyphenation: ces‧ta

Noun

cesta f (plural cestas)

1. basket
   1. a lightweight container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom
   2. (basketball) a circular hoop, from which a net is suspended, which is the goal through which the players try to throw the ball

Derived terms

• cesta básica
• cesteiro
• cestinha
• colocar todos os ovos em uma única cesta
• encestar

Related terms

• cesto

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cesta”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “cesta”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romansh

Alternative forms

• chista (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran)
• chaista (Puter, Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin cista, from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē).

Noun

cesta f (plural cestas)

1. (Sutsilvan) chest, trunk

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) trucca
• (Surmiran) trocla
• (Surmiran) tgascha
• (Puter) chascha
• (Surmiran) begl

Serbo-Croatian

FWOTD – 28 August 2013

Alternative forms

• cista (Ikavian)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *cěsta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sěsta/
• Hyphenation: ce‧sta

Noun

cèsta f (Cyrillic spelling цѐста)

1. road (paved)
2. highway

Declension

Declension of cesta

	singular	plural
nominative	cèsta	ceste
genitive	ceste	céstā
dative	cesti	cestama
accusative	cestu	ceste
vocative	cesto	ceste
locative	cesti	cestama
instrumental	cestom	cestama

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:cesta.

Derived terms

• cȅstār
• cestàrina
• cȅstica
• cèstōvnī

See also

• ulica

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Silesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Czech cesta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sɛs.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsta
• Syllabification: ces‧ta

Noun

cesta f

1. (Cieszyn) synonym of drōga (“road”)
   • 2013 March 30, “CO TYDZIYŃ PO NASZYMU: Obezdrzymy dzisio pieknóm dziedzine”, in Gazetacodzienna‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 August 2022:

     W postrzodku cesty, kiero kludzi łod Cieszyna do Jastrzymbio je tako szumno dziedzina co sie Ze[b]rzidowicami mianuje.

     In the middle of the road that leads from Cieszyn to Jastrzębie is a lovely village called Zebrzydowice.

Further reading

• cesta in silling.org

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sesta/, [ˈt͡sesta]

• Audio (Bratislava):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -esta
• Hyphenation: ces‧ta

Etymology 1

Cesta.

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *cěsta.

Noun

cesta f (relational adjective cestný, diminutive cestička)

1. road
2. way

Declension

Declension of cesta
(pattern žena)

	singular	plural
nominative	cesta	cesty
genitive	cesty	ciest
dative	ceste	cestám
accusative	cestu	cesty
locative	ceste	cestách
instrumental	cestou	cestami

Derived terms

nouns

• cestár m

verbs

• cestovať

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

cesta

1. genitive singular of cesto

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *cěsta. First attested in the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sèːsta/

Noun

cẹ́sta f

1. road (strip of land made suitable for travel)

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	césta
gen. sing.	céste
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	césta	césti	céste
genitive (rodȋlnik)	céste	cést	cést
dative (dajȃlnik)	césti	céstama	céstam
accusative (tožȋlnik)	césto	césti	céste
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	césti	céstah	céstah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	césto	céstama	céstami

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem, long mixed accent
nom. sing.	césta
gen. sing.	cesté
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	césta	cesté	cesté
genitive (rodȋlnik)	cesté	cestá	cestá
dative (dajȃlnik)	césti	cestáma	cestàm
accusative (tožȋlnik)	cestó	cesté	cesté
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	césti	cestàh	cestàh
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	cestó	cestáma	cestámi

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “cesta”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin cista, from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē). Doublet of cesto. Cognate with English cist and chest.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθesta/ [ˈθes.t̪a] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈsesta/ [ˈses.t̪a] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -esta
• Syllabification: ces‧ta

Noun

cesta f (plural cestas)

1. basket

   Synonyms: canasto, canasta

2. (Spain, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela) laundry basket, hamper (made of plastic)
3. (Mexico) laundry basket, hamper (made of soft material such as polyester and/or cotton)

Derived terms

• cesta de la compra
• cesta de mimbre (“wicker basket”)

Related terms

• cesto

Descendants

• → Basque: zesta
  • → Catalan: cesta

Further reading

• “cesta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025