English
handfast
Handfast comes from Middle English hondfesten ‘to betroth’, and goes back to Old Norse handfesta ‘to strike a bargain, pledge’.
- Old Norsec. 800–1350handfesta‘to strike a bargain, pledge’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hondfesten‘to betroth’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500hondfastpast participle of hondfesten
- Englishearliest quotation 1546handfast
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Norsec. 800–1350handfesta‘to strike a bargain, pledge’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hondfesten‘to betroth’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500hondfastpast participle of hondfesten
- Englishearliest quotation 1546handfast
Earliest quotation: 1546, John Bale: “A vyrgine made handfast to Christ.”
A compound of hönd ‘hand’ + festa ‘to fasten, fix, affirm’
Proto-Germanic *handuz ‘hand’
Old Norse hönd ‘hand’
Proto-Indo-European *pastV- ‘solid, stable’
Sanskrit पस्त्य ‘stall, stable ← stable habitation’
Proto-Germanic *fastuz ‘fixed, firm’
Proto-Germanic *fastijaną ‘to fasten’
Old Norse festa ‘to fasten, fix, affirm’
Every English word from Old Norse handfesta
Today it means
noun A hold, grasp; custody, power of confining or keeping.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Norse handfesta / handfast