Definition of "quest"

Cease your quest of love.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i]

In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.

2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist‎, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 9 February 2017, page 64

Gad not abroad at every quest and call / Of an untrained hope or passion.

, George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […]; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1885,

The senate hath sent about three several quests to search you out.

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]

To 'cide this title is impanneled A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart, And by their verdict is determined The clear eye's moiety and the dear heart's part […]

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 46”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley

Next day we quested in search of our caravan, and after some pains recovered it.

1634, Thomas Herbert, Description of the Persian Monarchy now beinge the Orientall Indyes, Iles and other ports of the Greater Asia and Africk

I had a calculus quest (not a quiz or a test, but somewhere in between...) it was on limits, and l'hopital's rule...

1998 March 20, bill kao, “3rd per”, in alt.music.ash‎ (Usenet)

However took a quest, quiz/test combination that this math progrm[sic] uses, and got ten out of ten on it!

2004 September 24, Kathy, “Weekly Diary Third Semester #4”, in alt.coffee.clutch‎ (Usenet)

Quests, bigger than quizzes and smaller than tests, consist of around 10 questions worth 2 points each, designed to take about 30–40 minutes.

2015, Kathleen Gibson-Dee, “Learning Through Questing, Not Testing”, in College Teaching‎, volume 63, number 3, Taylor & Francis, page 133

Most outcomes were assessed with 10 min, single-page, five-question quizzes/tests (“quests”) given at the beginning of class, followed immediately with a brief discussion of the correct answers; mastery could be demonstrated by the student with four of five complete, correct answers (with no partial credit). […] Students were given a finite number of “quest” retakes. Three class periods during the semester were used as quest makeup periods, during which students would be able to take new versions of EO and GO quests.

2017, Joshua Ring, “ConfChem conference on select 2016 BCCE presentations”, in Journal of Chemical Education‎, volume 94, number 12, ACS Publications, pages 2005–2006