handfast
To pledge; to bindTo pledge; to bind.
Meaning
2 senses(transitive)To pledge; to bind.
(Scotland, transitive)To betroth by joining hands, in order to allow for cohabitation before the celebration of marriage; to marry provisionally.
Origin
From Middle English hondfast, past participle of Middle English hondfesten (“to betroth”),From Middle English hondfast, past participle of Middle English hondfesten (“to betroth”), from Old Norse handfesta (“to strike a bargain, pledge”), itself from hönd (“hand”) + festa (“to fasten, fix, affirm”), perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *pHst-.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
handfasts, handfasting, handfasted, handfasted| Base form | handfast · to handfast |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | handfasts |
| Present participle | handfasting |
| Past simple | handfasted |
| Past participle | handfasted |
regular · Lesson
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.