prest /prɛst/noun 5adjective 3verb 1forms 5 noun5 •A loan or advance (of money)Requiring of the city a prest of six thousand marks. — 1622 •(rare) A payment of wages in advance •A tax or duty •A duty in money formerly paid by the sheriff on his account in the exchequer, or for money left or remaining in his hands.the same tayles soe hereafter there to be levyed and striken, shalbe delyvered unto everye of the same Sheriffes[…]without prest or other chardge to be sett upon them for the same. — 1548 •(no longer used) A sum of money paid to a soldier or sailor upon enlistment adjective3 •(no longer used) Ready; prompt; prepared. •(no longer used) Quick, brisk.The fauconer then was prest, Came runnynge with a dow, And cryed, ‘Stow, stow, stow!’ But she wold not bow. — 1503 •(no longer used) Neat; tidy; proper.False knave ready prest, All safe is the best — 1557 verb1 •(no longer used) To give as a loan; to lend.a greate part of our armie already prested, and in our wages to go forward — 1550 formsprested · presting · prests · more prest · most prest
