vast

See also: VAST and väst

English

Etymology

From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus (“void, immense”).

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.
   • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist^[1], 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.
   • William Shakespeare, the Life and Death of Richard the Third Act I, scene IV:

     the empty, vast, and wandering air

Translations

very large or wide (literally or figuratively)

• Bulgarian: обширен (bg) m (obšíren), огромен (bg) m (ogrómen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 浩大的 (zh)

• Czech: rozlehlý (cs) m
• Danish: enorm
• Dutch: enorm (nl)
• Esperanto: vasta (eo)
• Estonian: tohutu, ääretu, suur (et)
• Finnish: valtava (fi), laaja (fi)
• French: vaste (fr), immense (fr)
• Galician: vasto
• Georgian: ვრცელი (vrceli), ვეებერთელა (veebertela), უზარმაზარი (uzarmazari), თვალუწვდენელი (tvaluc̣vdeneli), უსაზღვრო (usazɣvro)
• German: beträchtlich (de), weit (de)
• Greek: απέραντος (el) (apérantos)

• Hungarian: óriási (hu), hatalmas (hu)
• Irish: uafásach
• Italian: ampio (it) m, ampia (it) f, vasto (it), esteso (it) m
• Japanese: 広大 (ja) (kōdai), 莫大 (ja) (bakudai)
• Korean: 광막한 (gwangmakhan)
• Maori: whakatikotiko
• Norwegian: enorm, voldsom
• Polish: obszerny (pl) m, rozległy (pl) m
• Portuguese: vasto (pt) m, vasta f
• Russian: обши́рный (ru) (obšírnyj)
• Spanish: vasto (es)
• Swedish: enorm (sv)
• Tibetan: རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ (rgya chen po)
• Turkish: muazzam (tr)

Noun

vast (plural vasts)

1. (poetic) A vast space.
   • 1608: 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. — William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, I.i

Derived terms

• vastly
• vastness
• ultravast

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: Rome · twelve · opposite · #972: vast · isn't · board · associated

Anagrams

• VSAT, tavs, vats

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑst
• IPA^(key): /vɑst/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch vast, from Old Dutch fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

Adjective

vast (comparative vaster, superlative meest vast or vastst)

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

   vaste lasten

   fixed costs

3. stuck, unable to get out
4. (chemistry) in the solid state
5. (botany) perennial
6. (of a telephone) using a landline

Inflection

Inflection of vast
uninflected	vast
inflected	vaste
comparative	vaster
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		vast	vaster	het vastst het vastste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	vaste	vastere	vastste
	n. sing.	vast	vaster	vastste
	plural	vaste	vastere	vastste
definite		vaste	vastere	vastste
partitive		vasts	vasters	—

Derived terms

• vastbinden
• vastgoed
• vasthouden
• vastleggen
• vastlopen
• vastmaken
• vaststellen
• vastzitten
• rotsvast

Adverb

vast

1. surely, certainly
2. (informal, sarcastically) sure, yeah, right

   Mijn hond at mijn huiswerk. / Mijn hond heeft mijn huiswerk opgegeten. — Ja, vast!

   My dog ate my homework. — Yeah, right!

Synonyms

• zeker
• zeker weten

Verb

vast

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of vasten
2. imperative of vasten

---

Estonian

Etymology

Of Finno-Mordvinic or Finno-Volgaic origin. Cognate to Finnish vasta, Votic vassa, Northern Sami vuostá, Erzya вастомс (vastoms, “to meet; to receive”), Moksha васта (vasta, “place; distance”) and possibly Western Mari [script needed] (βaštareš, “against; across”).

Adverb

vast

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

Derived terms

• vastu
• vastas
• vastama
• vastne
• vastik

---

Romani

Etymology

Perhaps (unlikely, as the 'st' in Sanskrit would definitely have shifted to 'tt' or 't') from Sanskrit हस्त (hasta), from Proto-Indo-Iranian, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰés-to- (“hand”) < *ǵʰes-. Compare Punjabi ਹੱਥ (hathth), Hindi हाथ (hāth), Bengali হাত (hat); compare also Persian دست‏ (dast).

Noun

vast m (plural vast)

1. hand