Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “fast” come from?

Fast comes from Old English fæst, from Proto-Germanic fastuz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots related to holding or grasping.

fast (English): Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable; Firm...

Definitions

  1. Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable; Firm...

Ancestry of “fast”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishfastfast
2Old Englishfæste—
3Old English-eforming adverbs from adjectives; -ly
4Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
5Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
6Proto-Norse-īna-—
7Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
8Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
9Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “fast”

  • faster
  • fastest
  • fastball
  • barefaced
  • ultrafast
  • holdfast
  • fastgrowing
  • superfast
  • barefacedly
  • colorfast
  • lightfast
  • colorfastness
  • lightfastness
  • lockfast
  • colourfast
  • fastish
  • fasteth
  • barefacedness
  • sitfast
  • fastballer
  • fastpitch
  • overfast
  • hyperfast
  • sunfast
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →