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Fastness
Definitions
- 1 The quality or state of being fast (in various senses).; The quality or state of being strongly attached; firmness, secureness, tenacity. countable, uncountable
"[T]he thing, as it is, having firſt taken vp her ſtand in the memory, and there by the way of knowledge and witting, imprinted it-ſelfe, it were hard it ſhould not repreſent it ſelfe to the imagination, diſplacing and ſupplanting falſehood, which therein can have no ſuch footing, or ſetled faſtneſſe: […]"
- 2 a strongly fortified defensive structure wordnet
- 3 The quality or state of being fast (in various senses).; The quality or state of being strongly attached; firmness, secureness, tenacity.; The ability of a dye to withstand fading. countable, specifically, uncountable
- 4 the quality of being fixed in place as by some firm attachment wordnet
- 5 The quality or state of being fast (in various senses).; The quality or state of moving quickly; quickness, rapidity, swiftness. countable, uncountable
"[Frog:] Why are all of us fleein'? What dire peril threatens our sylvan fastness? [Bug:] Just run! Your fastness shouldn't be too slow."
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- 6 a rate (usually rapid) at which something happens wordnet
- 7 The quality or state of being fast (in various senses).; The quality or state of having an extravagant lifestyle or immoral habits. countable, uncountable
- 8 The quality or state of being fast (in various senses).; Of a fortress or other place: the quality or state of being secure from access or attack; safety, security. archaic, countable, uncountable
"But now his cruelty ſo ſore ſhe drad, / That to thoſe fennes for faſtneſſe ſhe did fly, / And there her ſelfe did hyde from his hard tyranny."
- 9 The quality or state of being fast (in various senses).; The quality or state of being firm, hard, or solid; firmness, hardness, solidity. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Which was brought to paſſe I beleue, […] by a good way of Epitome, in binding him ſelfe to tranſlate meros Atticos Oratores, and ſo to bring his ſtyle, from all lowſe groſneſſe, to ſoch firme faſtnes in latin, as is in Demoſthenes in Greeke."
- 10 Something that is fast, or that causes someone or something to be fast (in various senses).; A fortified or secure place; a fortress, a stronghold. also, countable, figuratively, uncountable
"[I]f the VVelſh compelled by famine ventred out of their ſtrengthes or faſtneſſes, in or about Snovvdon, the Garriſon Souldiers of Gannocke vvere ready to intercept and kill them; […]"
- 11 Something that is fast, or that causes someone or something to be fast (in various senses).; Something used to fasten or tie; a fastener or fastening. countable, regional, uncountable
Etymology
From Middle English fastnes, fastnesse (“immovableness, stability; firmness, solidness; secure attachment; constancy; obstinacy; something giving firmness or strength; of sleep: soundness; of a wound: healing; assurance, confirmation”) [and other forms], from Old English fæstnes (“fastness, firmness, stability; resolution; tenacity; vigour; firmament; fortification”) [and other forms], from fæst (“firm, stable; constant”) (from Proto-Germanic *fastuz (“firm, fixed; secure”); see further at that entry) + -nes (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a quality or state). The English word may be analysed as fast + -ness.
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