vast

See also: VAST and väst

English

Etymology

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”, American Scientist, 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: 浩大的 (zh)

• Czech: rozlehlý (cs) m
• Danish: enorm
• Dutch: enorm (nl)
• Esperanto: vasta (eo)
• Finnish: valtava (fi), laaja (fi)
• French: vaste (fr) m, f
• Galician: vasto
• Georgian: ვრცელი (vrc’eli)
• German: beträchtlich (de), weit (de)

• Greek: απέραντος (el) (apérantos)
• Hungarian: óriási (hu), hatalmas (hu)
• Italian: ampio (it) m, ampia (it) f, vasto (it), esteso (it) m
• Japanese: 広大 (ja) (kōdai), 莫大 (bakudai)
• Korean: 광막한 (gwangmakhan)
• Maori: whakatikotiko
• Norwegian: enorm, voldsom
• Polish: obszerny (pl) m, rozległy (pl) m
• Portuguese: vasto (pt) m, vasta f
• Russian: обширный (ru) (obšírnyj)
• Spanish: vasto (es)
• Swedish: enorm (sv)

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: Rome · twelve · opposite · #972: vast · isn't · board · associated

Anagrams

• tavs
• vats

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑst
• IPA^(key): /vɑst/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch vast, from Old Dutch fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *pasto- (“solid”).

Cognate via Germanic with Low German fast, English fast, German fest, West Frisian fêst, Danish fast, Norwegian fast, and Swedish fast, Icelandic (and Faroese) fastur. Cognate via Proto-Indo-European with Armenian հաստ (hast, “thick”) and Sanskrit पस्त्य (pastyá).

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

Declension

Declension of vast

		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 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

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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 ਹਸਤ (hast), Hindi हाथ (hāth), Bengali হাত (hat); cf. also Persian دست (dast).

Noun

vast m (plural vast)

1. hand