Obs. Forms: 1 fæstan, 3–5 fest(e(n, -yn, 3–4 fasten, 5–6 faste, 5– fast. Pa. t. 3–5 fest, 4 fast-, fested, -id, -yd, 5–7 fasted. Pa. pple. 3–5 fest(e, 4 fast(e. [OE. fæstan (rare; also in compounds ȝe-, oð-befæstan), corresp. to OFris. festia, OS. festian (Du. vesten), OHG. fasten, festan (MHG. festen), ON. festa (Da. fæste, Sw. fästa):—OTeut. *fastjan, f. *fast-u- FAST a.
Before st, ft, the umlaut of a in OE. was æ (instead of e), and in ME. dialects this is divergently represented by a and e. The wide prevalence of the form fest(en in ME., however, is prob. in part due to Scandinavian influence.]
1. To make fast to something; to attach with bonds or nails; to bind together. Const. on, till, to, unto. a. with reference to material things. Also, To fast up (a wound): to bind up.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 462.
| Ðe spinnere on hire [webbe] swid[e] ge weveð | |
| festeð atte hus rof hire fodredes. |
a. 1300[?]. Leg. Gregory (Schulz), 109.
| Þan sche hadde ȝouen him souke | |
| And in þe cradel fast him fest. |
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1728 (Gött.). [Noe] himself festid [Fairfax feste] bath band and lace.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 272. Fire þei fest on it alle, & brent it [þe rede haule] þat et felle.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 5294.
| And of þe nayles þat hym thurgh hand and fote | |
| Til þe hard rode tre fast fested. |
1382. Wyclif, Ezek. xxx. 21. Boundyn in clothis and fastid … with smale lynnen clothis.
c. 1440. Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 2717.
| On his legges thou doo fest | |
| Strong fetures. |
1523. Fitzherb., Surv., xxv. (1539), 48. To faste the teme to the same.
1549. Coverdale, Erasm. Par. Gal. 14. Iesus Christ was for your sakes faste vpon the crosse.
1593. Rites & Mon. Ch. Durh. (Surtees), 4. Which cord was all fest together over the midst over the cover.
1615. W. Lawson, Orch. & Gard., III. x. (1668), 29. Cover your wound [of a tree graft], and fast it up, and take heed of training.
1626. Capt. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 27. Fast you[r] Anchor with your shanke painter.
1665. G. Havers, P. della Valle’s Trav. E. India, 348. At the foot of that Cross three Nails, to signifie those which fasted our Saviour unto it.
b. with reference to immaterial things.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 553. Wo so festeð hope on him, he sal him folgen to helle dim.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xii. 1. A perfit man … has … fested þaim [desires] in ihesu crist.
1568. T. Howell, Arb. Amitie (1879), 94.
| And firmely fast thy fayth on him, | |
| that’s true continually. |
c. refl. and intr. for refl. With on, to: To attach oneself to, take hold of, seize upon. Cf. To fasten on.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3797. A fier maȝti ðat folc fest on.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 26782 (Cott.). Þai þaim to þair filthes fest.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 6772. Nedders þat on þam sal fest.
c. 1420. Avow. Arth., vii.
| Butte ther was non so hardy, | |
| Durste on the fynde fast. |
14[?]. Kyng & Hermit, 475, in Hazl., E. P. P. (1864), I. 32.
| Ther is no dere in this foreste, | |
| And it [an arrow] wolde oune hym feste, | |
| Bot it schuld spyll his skale. |
d. To make fast in wedlock; to betroth, wed. Const. to, with.
c. 1300. Sat. Kildare, in E. E. P. (1862), 155.
| He is sori of his lif | |
| Þat is fast to such a wif. |
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 123. Þow hast fest hire to fals.
c. 1430. Syr Tryam., 643.
| They schulde faste hur with no fere, | |
| But he were prynce or prynceys pere. |
2. To fix in something else; to fix firmly; to establish, settle, in material or immaterial sense; and with sentence as obj.
c. 950. Lindisfarne Gospels, Luke xxiii. 46. In hondum ðinum … ic fæsto [commendo] gast minne.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1524.
| Ðor wurð wið him trewðe fest | |
| Abimalech. |
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 150. Þat ich hym wolde myd trewþe siker faste on honde.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21013 (Gött.).
| S[a]int iohn and iacob þe mare … | |
| þe land of spaigne in faith he fest. |
1382. Wyclif, Ex. xv. 17. Lord, thi seyntuarye, that thin hondes fastiden.
c. 1400. Ywaine & Gaw., 1989.
| His shelde bifor his face he fest, | |
| For the fyr that the dragon kest. |
c. 1440. Secrees, Prose Version (E.E.T.S.). A kyng, þat yn vnite and obedience haþ confermed and fastyd þe louable poeple of Inde.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 91.
| Then wold I we fest | |
| This mete who shalle into panyere kest. |
1664. Floddan Field, ix. 81. His folks could hardly fest their feet.
b. To plant, bring or drive home (a blow). Of the sun: To send forth (a ray).
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23385 (Cott.).
| And als suith als sunn mai fest | |
| Fra est his lem vnto þe west, | |
| Als suith mai þou cum þider. |
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 190. A stroke on him he fest.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 5986.
| And so strong was Caulang verrament | |
| That King Arthour myht fest no dint. |
c. refl. To fast oneself of: to confirm oneself in.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 182. Feste ðe of stedefastnesse and ful of ðewes.
3. To confirm (a covenant); to pledge (faith, etc.).
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5725 (Cott.).
| For forward þat he wit þam fest | |
| His ei of reuth he on þam kest. |
1306. Sir Simon Fraser, 41, in Pol. Songs (Camden), 214. To the kyng Edward hii fasten huere fay.
a. 1340. Cursor Mundi, 2691 (Trin.). Þis couenaunt was faste wiþ þis.
a. 1450. Le Morte Arth., 3324. Yiff we may not oure forwardys faste.
c. 1470. Henry the Minstrel, Wallace, XI. 540.
| Passand thai war, and mycht no langar lest, | |
| Till Inglismen, thair fewte for to fest. |
Hence Fasted ppl. a.
c. 1440. Promp, Parv., 151/1. Fast, or bowndyn, or festyd, vinctus. Ibid., 158/1. Festyd, or teyyd fast to a thynge, fixus.
