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fastus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word fastus

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Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Catullus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfas.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfas.tus][1]

Forms

fastus m (genitive fastūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][1] The OLD suggests a link with fastīgium “top”, and de Vaan thinks the only reasonable connection is with *farsti- “top”, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrs-tu- (“top, point”), with a shift from “top” to “haughtiness”.[3][2] fastīdium “disgust” would then be a compound *fastu-taidiom with taedet “it wearies”.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Catullus.[2][5] Köbler dates Catullus 81/79–52/50 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant pride, haughtiness, scornful disdain, mostly in poetry, as Propertius' disdain of a beloved, and in later prose.[3][6] Tacitus has the disdain of the Parthians for their native feasts.[3][6] It was also a superior attitude to things, fastidiousness, as Seneca's gourmets who will only taste a fish they have seen swimming.[3]

Medieval writers used it of the splendour of high position and of ambition.[7] It was borrowed into French as faste “pomp” and into Italian fasto.[1]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.[5]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of a beloved's disdain.[6][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of gourmets' fastidiousness.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Pride, haughtiness, disdain.[3]
  2. Fastidiousness.[3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The splendour of high position.[7]

Word family

  • fastōsus
  • fastīdium
  • fastuōsus
  • fastīgō
  • taedet
  • fastīgium
  • superbia
  • English fastidious

Usage notes

Fāstus (long ā), from fās, is a different word, an adjective used of days on which legal business could be done, whose plural fāstī was the calendar.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Fastus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fastus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·