The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Gist \Gist\ (j[i^]st), n. [OF. giste abode, lodgings, F.
   g[^i]te, fr. g['e]sir to lie, L. jac[=e]re, prop., to be
   thrown, hence, to lie, fr. jac[e^]re to throw. In the second
   sense fr. OF. gist, F. g[^i]t, 3d pers. sing. ind. of
   g['e]sir to lie, used in a proverb, F., c'est l[`a] que
   g[^i]t le li[`e]vre, it is there that the hare lies, i. e.,
   that is the point, the difficulty. See Jet a shooting
   forth, and cf. Agist, Joist, n., Gest a stage in
   traveling.]
   1. A resting place. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            These quails have their set gists; to wit, ordinary
            resting and baiting places.           --Holland.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The main point, as of a question; the point on which an
      action rests; the pith of a matter; as, the gist of a
      question.
      [1913 Webster]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

160 Moby Thesaurus words for "gist":
   affective meaning, axiom, basis, bearing, bench mark, best part,
   better part, body, bulk, burden, cardinal point, case, center,
   chapter, chief thing, climax, coloring, concern, connotation,
   consequence, core, cornerstone, crisis, critical point, crux,
   denotation, direction, distillate, distillation, drift, effect,
   elixir, essence, essential, essential matter, extension, fabric,
   flower, focus, focus of attention, focus of interest, force,
   fundamental, generality, grammatical meaning, gravamen,
   great point, head, heading, heart, high point, hypostasis, idea,
   impact, implication, import, important thing, inner essence,
   intension, issue, kernel, keystone, landmark, lexical meaning,
   literal meaning, living issue, main body, main idea, main point,
   main thing, major part, majority, marrow, mass, material,
   material point, matter, matter in hand, meaning, meat, medium,
   milestone, most, motif, motive, nub, nucleus, nuts and bolts,
   overtone, pertinence, pith, pivot, plurality, point,
   point at issue, point in question, postulate,
   practical consequence, principle, problem, purport, question, quid,
   quiddity, quintessence, range of meaning, real issue, real meaning,
   recap, recapitulation, reference, referent, relation, relevance,
   resume, rubric, run-through, rundown, salient point, sap, scope,
   semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, short, significance,
   signification, significatum, signifie, sine qua non, soul,
   span of meaning, spirit, structural meaning, stuff, subject,
   subject matter, subject of thought, substance, substantive point,
   sum, sum and substance, summary, summation, symbolic meaning,
   tenor, text, the bottom line, the nitty-gritty, the point, theme,
   thrust, topic, totality of associations, transferred meaning,
   turning point, unadorned meaning, undertone, upshot, value