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wast. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
wast, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
wast in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
wast you have here. The definition of the word
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wast, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology 1
From Late Middle English wast; equivalent to was + -est.
Pronunciation
Verb
wast
- (archaic) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; wert.
c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :Take thou no scorn to wear the horn, It was a crest ere thou wast born […]
1611, The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Revelation 16:5:And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Blessed Damozel, lines 97–99:Alas! We two, we two, thou say'st!
Yea, one wast thou with me
That once of old.
See also
References
- “wast”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
- “wast”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
Etymology 2
Noun
wast (plural wasts)
- Obsolete form of waist.
Anagrams
- 'twas, ATWS, AWTs, S.W.A.T., SWAT, Swat, TAWS, TWAs, WSTA, sawt, staw, swat, taws, wats
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
wast
- inflection of wassen:
- second/third-person singular present indicative
- (archaic) plural imperative
Gothic
Romanization
wast
- Romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍄
Maltese
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Arabic وَسْط (wasṭ, “middle, center”).
Pronunciation
Preposition
wast
- (rarely used alone): middle, center
- Synonym: nofs
Inflection
Derived terms
Middle English
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Old Northern French wast (adjective), from Frankish *wōstī, from Proto-Germanic *wōstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to desert”). Doublet of weste (“deserted”).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Adjective
wast (plural and weak singular waste)
- uncultivated, deserted, desolate
- extravagant, wasteful, excessive
- useless, empty, meaningless
Related terms
Descendants
References
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Old Northern French wast (noun), from the adjective. Doublet of weste (“wilderness”).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
wast (plural wastes)
- Uncultivated or deserted land; wilderness.
- Devastation, ruination; making waste.
- (property law) Damage to property or that which causes it.
- The utilisation or expenditure of resources:
- Extravagant or wasteful consumption.
- Useless or ineffectual behaviour; futility.
- (rare) Waste, rubbish; useless things.
Descendants
References
Etymology 3
Apparently inherited from Old English *wæst, *wæxt, *weahst, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstu, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz; compare waxen (“to grow”).
Forms with /aː/ may be due to the analogy of the variation between /aː/ and /a/ in Etymologies 1 and 2.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
wast (plural wastes)
- (uncommon) waist (bottom of the chest).
- (rare) waist (middle portion of a ship's hull)
Descendants
References
Etymology 4
From was + -est; partially replacing earlier were.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Verb
wast
- (Late Middle English) second-person singular past indicative of been
Descendants
Etymology 5
Verb
wast
- Alternative form of wasten
Old French
Noun
wast oblique singular, m (oblique plural waz or watz, nominative singular waz or watz, nominative plural wast)
- Alternative form of gast
Old Gutnish
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *wast, second-person singular indicative past of *wesaną.
Verb
wast
- second-person singular indicative past of wara
Scots
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-West Germanic *westr, from Proto-Germanic *westraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wek(ʷ)speros. Cognate to English west.
Adverb
wast (comparative mair wast, superlative maist wast)
- west
- back, sideways; upstream
Preposition
wast
- west
- over, across
- She wis walkin wast the road. - She was walking across the road.
Adjective
wast (comparative mair wast, superlative maist wast)
- west
See also