Fastan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An Old English verb meaning to secure something firmly in place ; to go without food, especially as a voluntary act of abstinence
2. Archaic verb for making something fixed and secure ; the act of refraining from eating for a period of time, often for religious reasons
3. To hold something tightly in position, as in an older English sense ; to deliberately do without meals for a set time, usually for devotion

Etymology: Fastan is an Old English verb meaning "to fasten, fix, make firm, or secure," and it is the direct ancestor of the modern English "fasten." Its core sense was physical: to make something fast, that is, firm or immovable. The adjective "fast," meaning firmly fixed or steadfast, comes from the same root, which is why "fast asleep" and "stand fast" share a sense of holding still, while the speed meaning of "fast" is a separate later development. The word is a Germanic inheritance, with cognates in Old Saxon, Old High German, and Old Norse, all built on a root meaning "firm" or "solid." Old English "fastian," the Anglian or related form, shows the same verb family, and it survived largely unchanged in sound through the centuries, its spelling gradually shifting toward the modern "fasten" by the Middle English period. The "-en" ending is the common Germanic verb suffix marking an action: to make fast.