or Joust, a sportive kind of combat on horseback, man against man, armed with lances. The word is by some derived from the French jouste, formed from the Latin juxta, because the combatants fought near one another. Salmasius derives it from the modern Greek zoustra, or rather ζωστρα, which is used in this sense by Nicephorus Gregorius. Others derive it from justa, which in the corrupt age of the Latin tongue was used for this exercise, because it was supposed to be a juster and more equal combat than that of the tournament.

The difference between jousts and tournaments consists in this, that the latter is the genus, of which the former is only a species. Tournaments included all kinds of military sports and engagements made for gallantry and diversions. Jousts were those particular combats where the parties were near each other, and engaged with lance and sword. It may be added, that the tournament was frequently performed by a number of cavaliers, who fought in a body; whereas the joust was a single combat of one man against another. Though the jousts were usually made in tournaments after a general rencontre of all the cavaliers, yet they were sometimes singly, and independent of any tournament. (See Chivalry and Tournament.)