vasten

English

Etymology

From vast +‎ -en (verbal suffix).

Verb

vasten (third-person singular simple present vastens, present participle vastening, simple past and past participle vastened)

1. (rare, transitive, intransitive) To make or become vast
   • 1871, The Sunday Magazine, page 425:

     And while I gazed in wonder and incipient alarm, straightway the throne and the king seemed strangely to blend into one, and then to grow and expand on all sides; and still vastening, and ever more vastening, it presently rose from the earth, self-moved, tremulous in every part with life, huge, dreadful, with deep rifts, and chasms, and gulfs of darkness.

Anagrams

• Vestan, ventas, vestan

Dutch

Pronunciation

• vasten

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑstən

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch vasten, from Old Dutch *faston, from Proto-West Germanic *fastēn, from Proto-Germanic *fastāną.

Verb

vasten

1. to fast

Inflection

Conjugation of vasten (weak)
infinitive	vasten
past singular	vastte
past participle	gevast
infinitive	vasten
gerund	vasten n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	vast	vastte
2nd person sing. (jij)	vast	vastte
2nd person sing. (u)	vast	vastte
2nd person sing. (gij)	vast	vastte
3rd person singular	vast	vastte
plural	vasten	vastten
subjunctive sing.1	vaste	vastte
subjunctive plur.1	vasten	vastten
imperative sing.	vast
imperative plur.1	vast
participles	vastend	gevast
1) Archaic.

Descendants

• Negerhollands: vasten, vast

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch vastene f, from Old Dutch *fastunna, from Proto-Germanic *fastubniją, *fastubnijō, from *fastāną (“to fast”). Cognate with Old Saxon fastunnia, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌽𐌹 (fastubni).

Noun

vasten m or n (uncountable)

1. fast (period of time when one abstains from or eats very little food)

Anagrams

• staven

Finnish

Etymology

Singular instructive of vasta-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑsten/, [ˈʋɑ̝s̠te̞n]
• Rhymes: -ɑsten
• Syllabification^(key): vas‧ten

Postposition

vasten (+ partitive)

1. against (in physical contact with, so as to abut or be supported by)

   Lapio nojasi seinää vasten.

   The shovel was leaning against the wall.

2. against (in physical opposition to; in collision with)

   Vene törmäsi kalliota vasten.

   The boat crashed against the rocks.

3. against (of a position, against a background)

   Katso sitä valoa vasten, niin näet, mitä tarkoitan.

   Look at it against the light, and you will see what I mean.

4. preceding, before (immediately before)

   Se tapahtui torstaita vasten yöllä.

   It happened in the night preceding Thursday.

5. towards, against (to a direction)

   Synonym: vastaan

   Kapteeni ohjasi keulan tuulta vasten.

   The captain steered the bow towards the wind.

6. against (intentionally overruling)

   Synonym: vastoin

   Hän toimi selkeää kieltoa vasten.

   He acted against a clear prohibition.

7. (dialectal) Synonym of varten (“for (a purpose)”)

   Mitä vasten?

   What for?

8. (dialectal) Synonym of vastaan (“against (in opposition to, opposing)”)

   Taistelimme intiaaneja vasten kolme päivää ja yötä.

   We fought against the Indians for three days and nights.

9. (colloquial, dialectal) Synonym of vastaan (“against (in opposition of)”)

   En ole vasten.

   I'm not against.

Usage notes

Can also be used as a preposition without any change in meaning, but use as a postposition is significantly more common.

Inflection

Declension of vasta- noun case singular plural adverbial form singular plural nominative vasta- – superessive – – genitive – – delative – – partitive – – sublative – – accusative – – lative – – inessive vastassa – temporal – – elative – – causative – – illative vastaan – multiplicative – – adessive – – distributive – – ablative – – temp. dist. – – allative – – prolative – – essive – – situative vastakkain – translative – – oppositive vastatusten – abessive – – instructive vasten vastoin comitative – –

Synonyms

• (preceding): ennen
• (to a direction): vastaan, kohti
• (in opposition to): vastaan
• (contrary to): vastoin
• (for a purpose): varten, takia

Derived terms

• varta vasten

 

compounds

• vastenmielinen
• vastentahtoinen

 

Further reading

• “vasten”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *faston, from Proto-West Germanic *fastēn.

Verb

vasten

1. to fast

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: vasten
• Limburgish: vaste

Further reading

• “vasten (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “vasten (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I