Your Chest and a Treasure Chest Are the Same Word
A chest is the front of the upper body, and a large box. The box came first, and the body part is named after it.
A chest is the upper front of the body, and also a large strong box. The box is the original: Old English *cest* meant a coffer, from Greek *kiste*, a basket. The body part borrowed the name around 1500 because the ribcage is a container, and English still treats it that way in phrases like *get it off your chest*. A chest of drawers is the box sense; a chest infection is the body sense.
- The upper front of the body. *Chest pains.*
- A large box. *A treasure chest.*
- Chest of drawers — the furniture. *An oak chest of drawers.*
- Get something off your chest — to confess. *He got it off his chest.*
- Chesty — of a cough, deep. *A chesty cough.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | chest | A broad chest. |
| Plural | chests | Two chests. |
| Adjective | chesty | A chesty cough. |
| Compound | chestnut | Unrelated word. |
| Greek | kiste | A basket. |
- He complained of chest pains.Medical.
- The chest was bound in iron.The box.
- Get it off your chest.Idiom.
Body parts named after objects
- Chest — from a box or coffer
- Trunk — the torso, from a tree trunk
- Barrel — used of a horse's or a person's chest
- Drum — the eardrum
- Palm — the hand, from the palm leaf's shape
Old English *cest*, a box or coffer, from Latin *cista*, from Greek *kiste*, a basket. The anatomical sense appeared around 1500.
Which meaning of chest came first?
The box. The anatomical sense borrowed the word around 1500, treating the ribcage as a container.
Is chestnut related to chest?
No. Chestnut comes from Greek kastanon, the name of the tree, and only resembles chest by accident.