wast

See also: waṣt and was't

English

Etymology 1

From Late Middle English wast; equivalent to was +‎ -est.

Pronunciation

(stressed)

• (UK) enPR: wŏst, IPA^(key): /wɒst/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: wôst, IPA^(key): /wɔst/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: wäst, IPA^(key): /wɑst/
• Rhymes: -ɒst

(unstressed)

• (UK, US) enPR: wəst, IPA^(key): /wəst/

Verb

wast

1. (archaic) second-person singular simple past indicative of be; wert.

   I remember the day when thou wast born.

   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene 2 (a hunting song)]:

     Take thou no scorn to wear the horn, It was a crest ere thou wast born […]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:11:

     And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 16:5:

     And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

   • 1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Blessed Damozel, lines 97–99:

     Alas! We two, we two, thou say'st!
     Yea, one wast thou with me
     That once of old.

See also

• am
• are
• is
• art
• be
• being
• been
• beest
• was
• were
• wert

References

• “wast”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “wast”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Etymology 2

Noun

wast (plural wasts)

1. Obsolete form of waist.

Anagrams

• 'twas, ATWS, AWTs, S.W.A.T., SWAT, Swat, TAWS, TWAs, WSTA, sawt, staw, swat, taws, wats

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑst
• IPA^(key): /ʋɑst/

Verb

wast

1. inflection of wassen:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. (archaic) plural imperative

Gothic

Romanization

wast

1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍄

Maltese

Root
w-s-t
4 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwast/

Preposition

wast

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of fost

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Northern French wast (adjective), from Frankish *wōstī, from Proto-Germanic *wōstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to desert”). Doublet of weste (“deserted”).

Alternative forms

• vaste, waast, waest, waist, waste

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waːst/, /wast/

Adjective

wast (plural and weak singular waste)

1. uncultivated, deserted, desolate
2. extravagant, wasteful, excessive
3. useless, empty, meaningless

Related terms

• wasten
• wastful
• wastite
• wastour
• wastyne

 

Descendants

• English: waste
• Scots: waste

References

• “wā̆st(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old Northern French wast (noun), from the adjective. Doublet of weste (“wilderness”).

Alternative forms

• waast, waste

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waːst/, /wast/

Noun

wast (plural wastes)

1. Uncultivated or deserted land; wilderness.
2. Devastation, ruination; making waste.
3. (property law) Damage to property or that which causes it.
4. The utilisation or expenditure of resources:
   1. Extravagant or wasteful consumption.
   2. Useless or ineffectual behaviour; futility.
5. (rare) Waste, rubbish; useless things.

Descendants

• English: waste
• Scots: waste
• Yola: wauste

References

• “wā̆st(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Apparently inherited from Old English *wæst, *wæxt, *weahst, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstu, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz; compare waxen (“to grow”).

Forms with /aː/ may be due to the analogy of the variation between /aː/ and /a/ in Etymologies 1 and 2.

Alternative forms

• waast, waist, waste
• wacst (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waːst/, /wast/

Noun

wast (plural wastes)

1. (uncommon) waist (bottom of the chest).
2. (rare) waist (middle portion of a ship's hull)

Descendants

• English: waist
  • → Japanese: ウエスト (uesuto)
• Scots: waist
• Yola: wauscoat

References

• “wā̆st(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 4

From was +‎ -est; partially replacing earlier were.

Alternative forms

• waste

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wast/

Verb

wast

1. (Late Middle English) second-person singular past indicative of been

Descendants

• English: wast (archaic)
• Yola: wasth

Etymology 5

Verb

wast

1. Alternative form of wasten

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɑːst/

Verb

wāst

1. second-person singular present of witan

Old French

Noun

wast oblique singular, m (oblique plural waz or watz, nominative singular waz or watz, nominative plural wast)

1. Alternative form of gast

Old Gutnish

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wast, second-person singular indicative past of *wesaną.

Verb

wast

1. second-person singular indicative past of wara

Scots

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-West Germanic *westr, from Proto-Germanic *westraz, from Proto-Indo-European *wek(ʷ)speros. Cognate to English west.

Adverb

wast (comparative mair wast, superlative maist wast)

1. west
2. back, sideways; upstream

Preposition

wast

1. west
2. over, across

   She wis walkin wast the road. - She was walking across the road.

Adjective

wast (comparative mair wast, superlative maist wast)

1. west

See also

• (compass points)

	north
wast		east
	sooth