vast
English
Etymology
From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus (“void, immense”). Related to waste and German Wüste.
Pronunciation
- (UK) enPR: väst, IPA(key): /vɑːst/
- (US) IPA(key): /væst/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑːst
Adjective
vast (comparative vaster or more vast, superlative vastest or most vast)
- Very large or wide (literally or figuratively).
- The Sahara desert is vast.
- There is a vast difference between them.
- Very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially extent.
- 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], OCLC 48702491; reprinted as Hydriotaphia (The English Replicas), New York, N.Y.: Payson & Clarke Ltd., 1927, OCLC 78413388, page 136:
- The exiguity and ſmallneſſe of ſome ſeeds extending to large productions is one of the magnalities of nature, ſomewhat illuſtrating the work of the Creation, and vaſt production from nothing.
- 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 172:
- Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.
-
- (obsolete) Waste; desert; desolate; lonely.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iv]:
- the empty, vast, and wandering air
-
Translations
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Noun
vast (plural vasts)
- (poetic) A vast space.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The VVinters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
- they have seemed to be together, though absent, shook hands, as over a vast, and embraced, as it were, from the ends of opposed winds.
-
Derived terms
- ultravast
- vastly
- vastness
Anagrams
- ATVs, VSAT, tavs, vats
Catalan
Etymology
From Latin vāstus.
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈvast/
- (Central) IPA(key): /ˈbast/
Adjective
vast (feminine vasta, masculine plural vasts or vastos, feminine plural vastes)
- vast, wide
Related terms
- vastitud
Further reading
- “vast” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “vast”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
- “vast” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “vast” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vɑst/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: vast
- Rhymes: -ɑst
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch vast, from Old Dutch fast, from Proto-West Germanic *fastī, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz.
Adjective
vast (comparative vaster, superlative meest vast or vastst)
- firm, fast, tight
- fixed, not moving or changing
- Kunnen we de vaste lasten dragen?
- Can we sustain the fixed costs?
- stuck, unable to get out
- Haar hand zat vast in het gat.
- Her hand was stuck in the hole.
- (chemistry) in the solid state
- Bij kamertemperatuur is het een vaste stof.
- It is a solid substance at room temperature.
- (botany) perennial
- Hij heeft een aantal vaste planten gepoot.
- He has planted a few perennial plants.
- (of a telephone) using a landline
- Is er een vaste verbinding?
- Is there a landline connection?
Inflection
Inflection of vast | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | vast | |||
inflected | vaste | |||
comparative | vaster | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | vast | vaster | het vastst het vastste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | vaste | vastere | vastste |
n. sing. | vast | vaster | vastste | |
plural | vaste | vastere | vastste | |
definite | vaste | vastere | vastste | |
partitive | vasts | vasters | — |
Derived terms
- rotsvast
- vastbinden
- vastgoed
- vasthouden
- vastleggen
- vastlopen
- vastmaken
- vaststellen
- vastzitten
Descendants
- Afrikaans: vas
- Berbice Creole Dutch: vasi
- Negerhollands: vast, vas
- →? Sranan Tongo: fasi, fasti
- → Caribbean Javanese: pasi, fasi
Adverb
vast
- (obsolete) almost; about; close to
- surely, certainly
- Synonym: zeker
- (informal, sarcastically) sure, yeah, right
- Mijn hond at mijn huiswerk. — Ja, vast!
- My dog ate my homework. — Yeah, right!
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
vast
- first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of vasten
- imperative of vasten
Estonian
Etymology
Of Finno-Mordvinic or Finno-Volgaic origin. Cognate to Finnish vasta, Votic vassõ, Northern Sami vuostá, Erzya вастомс (vastoms, “to meet; to receive”), Moksha васта (vasta, “place; distance”) and possibly Western Mari ваштареш (βaštareš, “against; across”).[1]
Adverb
vast
- maybe, possibly
- recently, just, now
Derived terms
- vastama
- vastas
- vastik
- vastne
- vastu
References
- vast in Metsmägi, Iris; Sedrik, Meeli; Soosaar, Sven-Erik (2012), Eesti etümoloogiasõnaraamat, Tallinn: Eesti Keele Instituut, →ISBN
Livonian
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *vasta, from Proto-Finno-Permic *wasta (“a place opposite or across”). Cognate with Finnish vasta-, vastaan, vasten.
Preposition
vast
- against
Ludian
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Old East Slavic хвостъ (xvostŭ); see vasta.
Noun
vast
- bundle (of switches for the sauna)
Old Norse
Verb
vast
- second-person singular past active indicative of vera
Romani
Etymology
Inherited from Sanskrit हस्त (hasta). Compare Punjabi ਹੱਥ (hatth), Hindi हाथ (hāth), Bengali হাত (hat); compare also Persian دست (dast).
Noun
vast m (nominative plural vasta)
- (anatomy) hand
Derived terms
- del vast
References
- Boretzky, Norbert; Igla, Birgit (1994), “vast”, in Wörterbuch Romani-Deutsch-Englisch für den südosteuropäischen Raum : mit einer Grammatik der Dialektvarianten [Romani-German-English dictionary for the Southern European region] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 297
- Marcel Courthiade (2009), “o vast, -es- m. -a, -en-”, in Melinda Rézműves, editor, Morri angluni rromane ćhibǎqi evroputni lavustik = Első rromani nyelvű európai szótáram : cigány, magyar, angol, francia, spanyol, német, ukrán, román, horvát, szlovák, görög [My First European-Romani Dictionary: Romani, Hungarian, English, French, Spanish, German, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Greek] (in Hungarian; English), Budapest: Fővárosi Onkormányzat Cigány Ház--Romano Kher, →ISBN, page 373
Romanian
Etymology
From French vaste, from Latin vastus.
Adjective
vast m or n (feminine singular vastă, masculine plural vaști, feminine and neuter plural vaste)
- vast
Declension
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative | indefinite | vast | vastă | vaști | vaste | ||
definite | vastul | vasta | vaștii | vastele | |||
genitive/ dative | indefinite | vast | vaste | vaști | vaste | ||
definite | vastului | vastei | vaștilor | vastelor |
Related terms
- vastitate
Veps
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Old East Slavic хвостъ (xvostŭ); see vasta.
Noun
vast
- bundle (of switches for the sauna)