different between holdfast vs fasten

English

Etymology

hold +? fast

Noun

holdfast (plural holdfasts)

1. Something to or by which an object can be securely fastened.
   • 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus (Folio Society 2007, p. 198)

     And Ivy divided from the root, we have observed to live some years, by the cirrous parts commonly conceived but as tentacles and holdfasts unto it.

2. (biology) A root-like structure that anchors aquatic sessile organisms, such as seaweed, other sessile algae, stalked crinoids, benthic cnidarians, and sponges, to the substrate.

   Hyponym: hapteron

3. (archaic, medicine) Actinomycosis.

Translations

See also

• holdfast on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• holdfast on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

English

Etymology

From Middle English fastenen, from Old English fæstnian, from Proto-West Germanic *fastin?n (“to secure, fasten”). Equivalent to fast +? -en.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f??s?n/, /?f??sn?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?fæs?n/, /?fæsn?/

Verb

fasten (third-person singular simple present fastens, present participle fastening, simple past and past participle fastened)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To attach or connect in a secure manner.
   • May 31, 1711, Jonathan Swift, The Examiner No. 43

     The words Whig and Tory have been pressed to the service of many successions of parties, with very different ideas fastened to them.

2. To cause to take close effect; to make to tell; to land.

Derived terms

• fastening
• unfasten

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Stefan, nefast

German

Etymology 1

Middle High German vasten, from Old High German fast?n, from Proto-Germanic *fast?n?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fastn?/, /?fast?n/
• Homophone: fassten
• Hyphenation: fas?ten; pre-1996: fa?sten

Verb

fasten (weak, third-person singular present fastet, past tense fastete, past participle gefastet, auxiliary haben)

1. to fast

Conjugation

Related terms

• Fasten
• Fastenzeit
• Fastnacht

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fa?st?n/
• Hyphenation: fas?ten; pre-1996: fa?sten

Verb

fasten

1. inflection of fasen:
   1. first/third-person plural preterite
   2. first/third-person plural subjunctive II

Further reading

• “fasten” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• fasta

Noun

fasten m or f

1. definite masculine singular of faste

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fast?n?.

Verb

fast?n

1. to fast

Conjugation

Descendants

• Middle High German: vasten
  • Cimbrian: bastan
  • German: fasten
  • Luxembourgish: faaschten
  • Yiddish: ???????? (fastn)