English
fast
see also: FAST, Fast
Pronunciation
  • (RP, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) enPR: fäst, IPA: /fɑːst/
  • (America, Northern England) enPR: făst, IPA: /fæst/
Etymology 1

From Middle English fast, fest, from Old English fæst, from Proto-West Germanic *fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

The development of “rapid” from an original sense of “secure” apparently happened first in the adverb and then transferred to the adjective; compare hard in expressions like “to run hard”.

Adjective

fast (comparative faster, superlative fastest)

  1. (dated) Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable. [from 9th c.]
    That rope is dangerously loose. Make it fast!
    Synonyms: firm, immobile, secure, stable, stuck, tight
    Antonyms: loose
    Hyponyms: bedfast, chairfast, colorfast, fail-fast, lightfast, shamefast, soothfast, steadfast
  2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.
    • 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC ↗:
      out-lawes […] lurking in woods and fast places
    Synonyms: fortified, impenetrable
    Antonyms: penetrable, weak
  3. (of people) Steadfast, with unwavering feeling. (Now mostly in set phrases like fast friend(s).) [from 10th c.]
    • 1933, Will Hudson, Irving Mills, Eddy DeLange, Moonglow:
      I still hear you sayin', "Dear one, hold me fast"
  4. Moving with great speed, or capable of doing so; swift, rapid. [from 14th c.]
    I am going to buy a fast car.
    Synonyms: quick, rapid, speedy
    1. (nuclear physics, of a neutron) Having a kinetic energy between 1 million and 20 million electron volts; often used to describe the energy state of free neutrons at the moment of their release by a nuclear fission or nuclear fusion reaction (i.e., before the neutrons have been slowed down by anything).
      Plutonium-240 has a much higher fission cross-section for fast neutrons than for thermal neutrons.
  5. Of a place, characterised by business, hustle and bustle, etc.
  6. Causing unusual rapidity of play or action.
    a fast racket, or tennis court
    a fast track
    a fast billiard table
    a fast dance floor
  7. (computing, of a piece of hardware) Able to transfer data in a short period of time.
  8. Deep or sound (of sleep); fast asleep (of people). [16th]
    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene i]:
      Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.
    Synonyms: deep, sound
    Antonyms: light
  9. (of dyes or colours) Not running or fading when subjected to detrimental conditions such as wetness or intense light; permanent. [from 17th c.]
    All the washing has come out pink. That red tee-shirt was not fast.
    Synonyms: colour-fast
  10. (obsolete) Tenacious; retentive.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC ↗:
      Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.
  11. (dated) Having an extravagant lifestyle or immoral habits. [from 18th c.]
    a fast woman
    • 1852, John Swaby, Physiology of the Opera, page 74:
      […] we remember once hearing a fast man suggest that they were evidently "nobs who had overdrawn the badger by driving fast cattle, and going it high" — the exact signification of which words we did not understand […]
    • 1979, Doug Fieger, Good Girls Don't:
      You're alone with her at last / And you're waiting 'til you think the time is right / Cause you've heard she's pretty fast / And you're hoping that she'll give you some tonight.
  12. Ahead of the correct time or schedule. [from 19th c.]
    There must be something wrong with the hall clock. It is always fast.
    Synonyms: ahead, gain
    Antonyms: behind, slow
  13. (of photographic film) More sensitive to light than average. [from 20th c.]
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “occurring or happening within a short time”): slow
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Adverb

fast (comparative faster, superlative fastest)

  1. In a firm or secure manner, securely; in such a way as not to be moved; safe, sound [from 10th c.].
    Synonyms: firmly, securely, tightly
    Antonyms: loosely
    Hold this rope as fast as you can.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene v]:
      Shylock:
      […] Do as I bid you; shut doors after you:
      Fast bind, fast find;
      A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.
    • 1726 October 27, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver's Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC ↗, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 20 ↗:
      Nine hundred of the ſtrongeſt Men were employed to draw up theſe Cords by many Pulleys faſtned on the Poles, and thus, in leſs than three Hours, I was raiſed and flung into the Engine, and there tyed faſt.
  2. (of sleeping) Deeply or soundly [from 13th c.].
    Synonyms: deeply
    Antonyms: lightly
    He is fast asleep.
  3. Immediately following in place or time; close, very near [from 13th c.].
    The horsemen came fast on our heels.
    Fast by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped. / That ain't my style, said Casey. Strike one, the umpire said.
  4. Quickly, with great speed; within a short time [from 13th c.].
    Synonyms: quickly, rapidly, speedily, swiftly
    Antonyms: slowly
    Do it as fast as you can.
  5. Ahead of the correct time or schedule.
    Synonyms: ahead
    Antonyms: behind
    I think my watch is running fast.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

fast (plural fasts)

  1. (British, rail transport) A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations
    Synonyms: express, express train, fast train
    Antonyms: local, slow train, stopper
Interjection
  1. (archery) Short for "stand fast", a warning not to pass between the arrow and the target
    Antonyms: loose
Etymology 2

From Middle English fasten, from Old English fæstan (verb), Old English fæsten (noun) from

From Proto-Germanic *fastāną, from the same root as Proto-Germanic *fastijaną, derived from *fastuz, and thereby related to Etymology 1.

The religious sense is presumably introduced in the Gothic church, from Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽.

The feminine noun Old High German fasta likely existed in the 8th century (shift to neuter Old High German fasten from the 9th century, whence modern German Fasten).

The Old English noun originally had the sense "fortress, enclosure" and takes the religious sense only in late Old English, perhaps influenced by Old Norse fasta.

The use for reduced nutrition intake for medical reasons or for weight reduction develops by the mid-1970s, back-formed from the use of the verbal noun fasting in this sense (1960s).

Verb

fast (fasts, present participle fasting; simple past and past participle fasted)

  1. (intransitive) To practice religious abstinence, especially from food.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 2 Samuel 12:21 ↗:
      Thou didst fast and weep for the child.
    • 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain'd. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC ↗, page 2 ↗:
      Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.
    • 1677 George Fox, The Hypocrites Fast and Feast Not God's Holy Day, p. 8 (paraphrasing Matthew 6:16-18).
      And is it not the Command of Christ, that in their Fast they should not appear unto men to fast?
  2. (intransitive) To reduce or limit one's nutrition intake for medical or health reasons, to diet.
    • 1983, Experimental Lung Research, volumes 5-6, Informa healthcare, page 134:
      After the equilibration period, the rats designated for deprivation studies were made to fast for 24, 48, 72, or 96 hr according to experimental design.
  3. (transitive) (academic) To cause a person or animal to abstain, especially from eating.
Translations Noun

fast (plural fasts)

  1. The act or practice of fasting, religious abstinence from food
    • 1677 George Fox, The Hypocrites Fast and Feast Not God's Holy Day, p. 8 (paraphrasing Matthew 6:16-18).
      And is it not the Command of Christ, that in their Fast they should not appear unto men to fast?
    • 1878, Joseph Bingham, The Antiquities of the Christian Church, volume 2, page 1182:
      anciently a change of diet was not reckoned a fast; but it consisted in a perfect abstinence from all sustenance for the whole day till evening.
  2. One of the fasting periods in the liturgical year
    • 1662 Peter Gunning, The Holy Fast of Lent Defended Against All Its Prophaners: Or, a Discourse, Shewing that Lent-Fast was First Taught the World by the Apostles (1677 [1662]), p. 13 (translation of the Paschal Epistle of Theophilus of Alexandria).
      And so may we enter the Fasts at hand, beginning Lent the 30th. day of the Month Mechir
FAST
Noun

fast

  1. Initialism of Focused assessment with sonography for trauma
  2. Abbreviation of Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope in China.
Translations
Fast
Proper noun
  1. Surname.


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