Regests

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A written abstract or calendar listing the contents of a set of charters, deeds, or other official records
2. An archival summary that records and briefly describes a collection of legal or administrative documents
3. A formal catalogue or digest giving the substance of a group of historical papers in condensed form

Etymology: "Regests" is the plural of "regest," a noun for a summary or abstract of a document, typically a register of charters or official records. The singular comes from Latin "regesta," meaning "things recorded," the plural of "regestum," itself a derivative of "regerere," to carry back or record. Old French borrowed the same form as "regestes," and the English word follows that French path, which is also how "register" reached English. The result is a small family of words sharing one root: a register is the full list of entries, while a regest is the condensed account of each entry. Historians who work with medieval charter collections use the term for the brief summaries that catalogue a body of documents without reproducing their full text.

Synonyms: summary, abstract, digest, synopsis