# vast
## English
### Etymology

From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus (“void, immense”). Related to waste and German Wüste.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) enPR: väst, IPA: /vɑːst/
* (Northern England, Scotland) IPA: /vast/
* (US) IPA: /væst/
** Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æst, -ɑːst

### Adjective

vast (comparative vaster or more vast, superlative vastest or most vast)
* Very large or wide (literally or figuratively).
    The Sahara desert is vast.
    There is a vast difference between them.
* Very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially extent.
** 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, page 136:The exiguity and ſmallneſſe of ſome ſeeds extending to large productions is one of the magnalities of nature, ſomewhat illuſtrating the work of the Creation, and vaſt production from nothing.
** 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.
** 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in 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.
* (obsolete) Waste; desert; desolate; lonely.
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:the empty, vast, and wandering air

#### Translations
### Noun

vast (plural vasts)
* (poetic) A vast space.
** c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]: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.

### Derived terms

* ultravast
* vastly
* vast majority
* vastness

### Anagrams

* ATVs, tavs, VTAs, vats, VSAT

## Catalan
### Etymology

From Latin vāstus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈbast]
* IPA: (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈvast]

### Adjective

vast (feminine vasta, masculine plural vasts or vastos, feminine plural vastes)
* vast, wide

#### Related terms

* vastitud

### Further reading

* “vast” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “vast”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “vast” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “vast” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /vɑst/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: vast
* Rhymes: -ɑst

### Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch vast, from Old Dutch fast, from Proto-West Germanic *fastī, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz.

#### Adjective

vast (comparative vaster, superlative meest vast or vastst)
* firm, fast, tight
* fixed, not moving or changing
    Kunnen we de vaste lasten dragen? ― Can we sustain the fixed costs?
* stuck, unable to get out
    Haar hand zat vast in het gat. ― Her hand was stuck in the hole.
* (chemistry) in the solid state
    Bij kamertemperatuur is het een vaste stof. ― It is a solid substance at room temperature.
* (botany) perennial
    Hij heeft een aantal vaste planten gepoot. ― He has planted a few perennial plants.
* (of a telephone) using a landline
    Is er een vaste verbinding? ― Is there a landline connection?

##### Derived terms

* rotsvast
* vastbinden
* vastgoed
* vasthouden
* vastklampen
* vastleggen
* vastlopen
* vastmaken
* vaststellen
* vastzitten

##### Related terms

* vestigen

##### Descendants

* Afrikaans: vas
* Berbice Creole Dutch: vasi
* Negerhollands: vast, vas
* →? Sranan Tongo: fasi, fasti
** → Caribbean Javanese: pasi, fasi

#### Adverb

vast
* (obsolete) almost; about; close to
* surely, certainly
    Synonym: zeker
    vast en zeker ― most certainly
* (informal, sarcastically) sure, yeah, right
    Mijn hond at mijn huiswerk. — Ja, vast!My dog ate my homework. — Yeah, right!

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

vast
* inflection of vasten:
** first/second/third-person singular present indicative
** imperative

## Estonian
### Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *vasta, from Proto-Finno-Permic *wasta (“a place opposite or across”). Cognate to Finnish vasta, Votic vassõ, Northern Sami vuostá, Erzya вастомс (vastoms, “to meet; to receive”), Moksha васта (vasta, “place; distance”) and possibly Western Mari ваштареш (vaštareš, “against; across”).

### Adverb

vast (not comparable)
* maybe, possibly
    Synonyms: ehk, vahest, võib-olla
* recently, just, now
    Synonyms: äsja, just, nüüdsama, alles

#### Derived terms

* vastama
* vastas
* vastik
* vastne
* vastu

### References

* ↑ “vast”, in [ETY] Eesti etümoloogiasõnaraamat [Estonian Etymological Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2012

## Ingrian
### Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *vasta. Cognates include Finnish vasta and Estonian vast.

### Pronunciation

* (Ala-Laukaa) IPA: /ˈʋɑstɑ/, [ˈʋɑs̠t]
* (Soikkola) IPA: /ˈʋɑst/, [ˈʋɑʃt]
* Rhymes: -ɑst
* Hyphenation: vast
* Homophone: vasta

### Adverb

vast
* just now

#### Synonyms

* ikkee, vastikkää

### Preposition

vast (+ partitive)
* against, towards

#### Derived terms

* vastikkää

### References

* Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 645

## Livonian
### Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *vasta, from Proto-Finno-Permic *wasta (“a place opposite or across”). Cognate with Finnish vasta-, vastaan, vasten.

### Preposition

vast
* against

## Ludian
### Etymology

Probably borrowed from Old East Slavic хвостъ (xvostŭ); see vasta.

### Noun

vast
* bundle (of switches for the sauna)

## Old Norse
### Verb

vast
* second-person singular past active indicative of vera

## Romani
### Etymology

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀳𑀢𑁆𑀣 (hattha), from Sanskrit हस्त (hásta). Cognate with Gujarati હાથ (hāth), Marwari and Nimadi हाथ (hāth), Sindhi هَٿُ (hatu).

### Noun

vast m (nominative plural vasta)
* (anatomy) hand
    Kamav te ćumidav laqo vast.I want to kiss her hand.

#### Derived terms

* del vast

### References

* ↑ Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “hasta”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 811

### Further reading

* Boretzky, Norbert, Igla, Birgit (1994) “vast”, in Wörterbuch Romani-Deutsch-Englisch für den südosteuropäischen Raum : mit einer Grammatik der Dialektvarianten [Romani-German-English dictionary for the Southern European region] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 297
* Marcel Courthiade (2009) “o vast, -es- m. -a, -en-”, in Melinda Rézműves, editor, Morri angluni rromane ćhibǎqi evroputni lavustik = Első rromani nyelvű európai szótáram : cigány, magyar, angol, francia, spanyol, német, ukrán, román, horvát, szlovák, görög [My First European-Romani Dictionary: Romani, Hungarian, English, French, Spanish, German, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Greek] (overall work in Hungarian and English), Budapest: Fővárosi Onkormányzat Cigány Ház--Romano Kher, →ISBN, page 373

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French vaste, from Latin vastus.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

vast m or n (feminine singular vastă, masculine plural vaști, feminine and neuter plural vaste)
* vast

#### Related terms

* vastitate

## Veps
### Etymology

Probably borrowed from Old East Slavic хвостъ (xvostŭ); see vasta.

### Noun

vast
* broom, whisk
* bath broom