Fast

Origin:[1]

Common Germanic: OE fæst corresponds to Old Frisian fest

cognate with Gothic fastan (to keep, guard, observe)

Forms:[2]

OE-ME - fæst

ME - fest, faste

ModE - fast

Meaning:[3]

- 9th century: firmly fixed, attached to

- 16th century: rapid, quick (from adverb)

- verb - "abstain from food," the verb in the sense "to make fast" continued in ME, but was superseded by fasten


- semantic shift - inversion of the meaning (from the stable meaning "firm" to the dynamic meaning "rapid")

References

  1. "fast." OED Online Oxford University Press, September 2014. Web 25 November 2014. >http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.cuni.cz/view/Entry/68420?rskey=FUu8ql&result=5&isAdvanced=false#eid
  2. "fast." OED Online Oxford University Press, September 2014. Web 25 November 2014. >http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.cuni.cz/view/Entry/68420?rskey=FUu8ql&result=5&isAdvanced=false#eid
  3. Harper D. "fast." Online Etymology Dictionary. 2001. Web 25 November 2014.>http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=fast&searchmode=none