wast
English
Etymology 1
From Late Middle English wast; equivalent to was + -est.
Pronunciation
(stressed)
- (UK) enPR: wŏst, IPA(key): /wɒst/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (US) enPR: wôst, IPA(key): /wɔst/
- (cot–caught merger) enPR: wäst, IPA(key): /wɑst/
- Rhymes: -ɒst
(unstressed)
Verb
wast
- (archaic) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; wert.
- I remember the day when thou wast born.
- 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene 2 (a hunting song)]:
- 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, Genesis 3:11:
- And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
- 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
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -ɑst
- IPA(key): /ʋɑst/
Verb
wast
Gothic
Romanization
wast
- romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍄
Maltese
Root |
---|
w-s-t |
4 terms |
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwast/
Preposition
wast
- (obsolete) alternative form of fost
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
- IPA(key): /waːst/, /wast/
Adjective
wast (plural and weak singular waste)
Related terms
Descendants
References
- “wā̆st(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Old Northern French wast (noun), from the adjective. Doublet of weste (“wilderness”).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /waːst/, /wast/
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:
- (rare) Waste, rubbish; useless things.
Descendants
References
- “wā̆st(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
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
- IPA(key): /waːst/, /wast/
Noun
wast (plural wastes)
Descendants
- English: waist, waste, wast (obsolete)
- → Japanese: ウエスト (uesuto)
- Scots: waist
- ⇒ Yola: wauscoat, wazcoote
References
- “wā̆st(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 4
From was + -est; partially replacing earlier were.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wast/
Verb
wast
- (Late Middle English) second-person singular past indicative of been
Descendants
Etymology 5
Verb
wast
- alternative form of wasten
Old English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɑːst/
Verb
wāst
- second-person singular present of witan
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)
Preposition
wast
Adjective
wast (comparative mair wast, superlative maist wast)
See also
compass points: [edit]
north | ||
wast | east | |
sooth |