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)

1. Very large or wide (literally or figuratively).

   The Sahara desert is vast.

   There is a vast difference between them.

2. 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 Brome , →OCLC, 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.

   • 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:

     Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.

   • 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.

3. (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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     the empty, vast, and wandering air

Translations

Noun

vast (plural vasts)

1. (poetic) A vast space.
   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     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

Anagrams

• ATVs, VSAT, tavs, vats

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vāstus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

Adjective

vast (feminine vasta, masculine plural vasts or vastos, feminine plural vastes)

1. 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, 2024
• “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)

1. firm, fast, tight
2. fixed, not moving or changing

   Kunnen we de vaste lasten dragen?

   Can we sustain the fixed costs?

3. stuck, unable to get out

   Haar hand zat vast in het gat.

   Her hand was stuck in the hole.

4. (chemistry) in the solid state

   Bij kamertemperatuur is het een vaste stof.

   It is a solid substance at room temperature.

5. (botany) perennial

   Hij heeft een aantal vaste planten gepoot.

   He has planted a few perennial plants.

6. (of a telephone) using a landline

   Is er een vaste verbinding?

   Is there a landline connection?

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: vas
• Berbice Creole Dutch: vasi
• Negerhollands: vast, vas
• →? Sranan Tongo: fasi, fasti
  • → Caribbean Javanese: pasi, fasi

Adverb

vast

1. (obsolete) almost; about; close to
2. surely, certainly

   Synonym: zeker

3. (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

1. inflection of vasten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

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 (vaštareš, “against; across”).

Adverb

vast (not comparable)

1. maybe, possibly
2. recently, just, now

Derived terms

References

Ingrian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *vasta. Cognates include Finnish vasta and Estonian vast.

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑst/,
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑst/,
• Rhymes: -ɑst
• Hyphenation: vast
• Homophone: vasta

Adverb

vast

1. just now

Synonyms

• ikkee

Preposition

vast (+ partitive)

1. against, towards

Derived terms

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 645

Livonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *vasta, from Proto-Finno-Permic *wasta (“a place opposite or across”). Cognate with Finnish vasta-, vastaan, vasten.

Preposition

vast

1. against

Ludian

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Old East Slavic хвостъ (xvostŭ); see vasta.

Noun

vast

1. bundle (of switches for the sauna)

Old Norse

Verb

vast

1. 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)

1. (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] (overall work in Hungarian and English), Budapest: Fővárosi Onkormányzat Cigány Ház--Romano Kher, →ISBN, page 373

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vaste, from Latin vastus.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

vast m or n (feminine singular vastă, masculine plural vaști, feminine and neuter plural vaste)

1. vast

Declension

Related terms

• vastitate

Veps

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Old East Slavic хвостъ (xvostŭ); see vasta.

Noun

vast

1. broom, whisk
2. bath broom

Declension