Etymologically
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fæst

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Pronunciation

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