fæst

Forms

fæst (superlative fæstost or fæstest or fæstast)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz (“fixed, firm”).^[1] The adjective is found in Old Norse fastr, Old Frisian fest, Old Saxon fast and Old High German festi.^[2][3][4] Kroonen takes it for a u-stem remade as a ja-stem in West Germanic, while Ringe and Taylor and Heidermanns set up an a-stem Proto-Germanic *fastaz.^[2][5][6]

Outside Germanic it matches Old Armenian հաստ (hast, “firm”).^[2][3] Kroonen reconstructs a root Proto-Indo-European *pHst- and derives it from a compound of Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to become firm”) and Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), rejecting a link with Sanskrit पस्त्य (pastyà, “homestead”).^[2] Orel explains it as “standing firm”, from the same root “to stand”.^[3] Köbler gives Pokorny's Proto-Indo-European *pasto- (“firm”) with a query.^[4]

Proto-West Germanic /a/ appears as ⟨æ⟩ here, as in græs and þæc.^[5] The verbs fæstnian and fæstan were made from it.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897), of a man who sins by degrees: ðonne hnappað he oð he wierð on fæstum slæpe “then he dozes until he falls into a deep sleep”.^[9][10] Sweet lists “heavy” of sleep among its senses.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is “firmly fixed”: stars fixed in the firmament, an anchor fast in the ground, the wood wyrtum fæst “held fast by its roots” in Beowulf.^[12][13] It is used of what is bound or caught, as a foot caught fast in a hedge, and of what is solid: a firm house, firm or stiff land in the Herbarium.^[12][13] Of the mind and faith it means steadfast, of a city fortified and safe, and of a dwelling closed.^[12][14] Sweet adds fæst innoþ “constipated bowels” and the sense “religious, Christian” of a book.^[11] It is the second part of many compounds, among them ārfæst, sōþfæst and tīrfæst.^[15][16]

It lived on as Middle English fast, firmly fixed, stable, and of sleep sound.^[17] Etymonline dates the sense “quick” from the 1550s and derives it from the adverb.^[18]

Timeline

• 890×897 – on fæstum slæpe “in a deep sleep” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[9][10]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – fæstne geleafan “firm faith” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[19][10]
• s. x/xi – wudu wyrtum fæst in the Beowulf manuscript.^[20][13]
• c. 1000 – the stars fixed on ðām fæstan rodore “in the firm sky” in Ælfric's Hexameron.^[1]
• ?c1335 – Middle English No tre in erþ so fast.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. firmly fixed in a place; attached, bound.^[12][13][15]
2. firm, solid; stiff (of soil); heavy (of sleep).^[12][11]
3. steadfast, constant (of mind and faith).^[12][11]
4. fortified, secure; of a dwelling, closed.^[12][14]
5. (medicine) fæst innoþ constipated bowels.^[11]
6. religious, Christian (of a book).^[11]

Word family

• fæste
• fæstlīċe
• fæstnes
• fæstnian
• fæstan
• ārfæst
• sōþfæst
• stedefæst
• tīrfæst
• unfæst

Descendants

• Middle English fast (→ English fast; Scots fast; Scots fest)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 131
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 94
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fæst
5. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 147
6. ^ Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 131
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 237
9. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
10. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
11. ^ a b c d e f Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 76
12. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 267
13. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 200
14. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 763
15. ^ a b Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. fæst
16. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 67
17. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
18. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
19. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
20. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344