fastens 
the olderform of fast'*, .: seefast 3 , n. Ct. fa.it- 
</ti>/!/.] Shrove Tuesday. Also Fastens Titcmlay, 
jasting's-even. [Prov. En^.] 
faster (fas'ter), ii. One who fasts. 
But this Tuition of the word cannot a I nil ln-lmis: to this 
place, where the hypocritical /Offer*, that desire their de- 
votions should . . . be wen and commended by men, are 
said to be ... of sad countenance. 
Bammond, Works, III. 3". 
fastermant (fas'ter-man), . Same as fastiiig- 
Illllll. 
fasterns-een (fas'teruz-en), . Same as fastens. 
[Scotch.] 
fast-gangt, . [ME. fast-gouge; < fasts + gang.'} 
1. A fasting. 2. Shrove Tuesday. Prompt. 
I'di-r., p. 151. 
fastgang-tidet, " [E.dial./asjrwrtWde.] Shrove- 
tide. 
fast-handed (fast ' han " ded), a. [< fasti + 
hand + -cd 2 .] Close-handed; covetous; close- 
fisted; avaricious. [Bare.] 
The king, being fast-handed and loth to part with a sec- 
ond dowry, . . . prevailed with the prince ... to be 
contracted with the Princess Catherine. 
Bacon, Hen. VII. 
fasti (fas'ti), n. pi. [L., prop. pi. otfastus, adj., 
lit. lawful, < fas, (divine) law, justice, as adj. 
lawful, right, < fitri, speak ; hence fasti dies, or 
fasti, the lawful days, the days on which judg- 
ment could be pronounced ; hence an enumer- 
ation of all the days of the year, with their fes- 
tivals, magistrates, events, etc., a calendar, al- 
manac, a public register, etc.] 1. In Bom. hist., 
a register of days. The/arti sacri or kalendares were 
calendars of the year, giving the days for festivals, courts, 
etc., corresponding to the modern almanac. 'I'he fasti an- 
Hales, or historic!, contained the names of the consuls and 
other magistrates, and an enumeration of the most re- 
markable historical events noted down opposite the days 
on which they occurred. 
i:< ini:in coins are not Fasti, nor are Greek coins a trea- 
tise on ancient geography, yet the labour of numismatists 
has made the one almost the best authority for the chro- 
nology of the Roman empire, and has found in the other 
an inestimable commentary on Strabo and Ptolemy. 
C. T. Newton, Art and Arclueol., p. 15. 
Hence 2. Annals, chronicles, or historical 
records in general. 
fastidiosity (fas-tid-i-os'i-ti), n. [(fastidi- 
ous (L. fastidiosus) + -ity.] Fastidiousness. 
[Bare.] 
His epidemical diseases being fastidiosity, amorphy, and 
oscitation. Swift, Tale of a Tub, v. 
fastidious (fas-tid'i-us), a. [= P. fastidieiuc 
(vernacularly fdclieux, > E. fashious, ult. the 
same word), = Sp. Pg. It. fastidioso, < L. fas- 
tidiosus, pass, that feels disgust, disdainful, 
scornful, fastidious, act. that causes disgust, 
disgusting, loathsome, < fastidium, a loathing, 
aversion, disgust, niceness of taste, daintiness, 
etc., perhaps for *fastittidium, (Justus, disdain, 
haughtiness, arrogance, disgust (for *farstus(l), 
akin to Gr. Bdpaof, Bpaans, boldness, audacity, 
and to E. dare 1 ), + tedium, disgust: see darel 
and tedium. See also/as/i 1 , fashions.'] If. Such 
as to cause disgust or loathing; loathsome. 
Also by a cruel and irons mayster, the wyttes of chyl- 
dren be dulled : and that thynge for the whiche chyldren 
be often tymes beaten is to them after fastidious. 
Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, i. 9. 
Tho' Silence be the dumb Orator of Beauty, and the 
best Ornament of a Woman, yet a phlegmatic dull Wife 
is fulsome and fastidious. Howell, Letters, I. iv. 9. 
2. Hard or difficult to please ; squeamish; over- 
nice in selecting or discriminating ; difficult to 
suit : as, a fastidious mind or taste. 
We have known an author so laudably fastidious in this 
subtle art [style] as to have recast one chapter of a series 
no less than seventeen times. De Quincey, Style, i. 
Let us beware of indulging a mere barren faith and 
love, which dreams instead of working, and is faxtidious 
when it should be hardy. 
J. H. Newman, Parochial Sermons, i. 349. 
= Syn. 2. Nice, Daintti, etc. See nice. 
fastidiously (fas-tid'i-us-li), adv. In a fastid- 
ious manner. 
As for the [ifsl . . . that he is so fastidiously displeased 
with, he hath, I doubt not, judgment enough to discern 
that all the severals so introduced are things that we as- 
sume to have actually proved. Hammond, Works, II. 273. 
On what ground . . . could the legislature have fas- 
tidiously rejected the fair and abundant choice our own 
country presented to them, and searched in strange lands 
for a foreign princess? Burke, Rev. in France. 
fastidiousness (fas-tid'i-us-nes), . The char- 
acter or quality of being fastidious ; over-nice- 
ness of judgment, taste, or appetite ; great or 
undue niceness or exactness in selection. 
That generous and liberal fastidiousness which is not 
inconsistent with the strongest sensibility to merit. 
Macaulay, History. 
2151 
Increased cultivation almost always produces afastidi- 
m/xvi''** which necessitates the increased elaboration of 
our pleasures. L> 'fkii. Europ. Morals, I. ton. 
I''axt!(li<iu*nt\*s is only another form of egotism. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 350. 
fastigia, n. Plural of fastigium. 
fastigiate, fastigiated (fas-tij'i-at, -a-ted), a. 
[< L. fastii/atus, sloping (taken as *fastigiatus, 
< fastigium), pointed, also rising up to a point, 
pp. offastigare, make pointed, raise or bring to 
a point, < fastigium, the top of a gable, gable- 
end, roof, the top, summit, a slope, an accent 
over a letter, etc.; origin uncertain.] 1. Point- 
ed ; rising up to a point ; narrowed to the top, 
as a sloping roof ; sloping upward to a summit, 
point, or edge. 
That noted hill, the top whereof is fastigiate, like a 
sugar-loaf. Jlay, Remains, p. 176. 
Specifically 2. In lot., having the branches 
parallel and erect, as in the Lombardy poplar. 
3. In eool., tapering regularly to a more 
or less acute apex Fastigiate elytra, those elytra 
which are somewhat pointed at the tips and extend a 
little beyond the apex of the abdomen. 
fastigiately (fas-tij'i-at-li), adv. In a fastigiate 
manner; pointedly. 
fastigioust (fas-tij'i-us), a. [< fastigium + 
-os.] Of or pertaining to a fastigium or point- 
ed roof ; having a ridge or an apex. 
The ancients dwelling-houses [were] . . . generally flat 
at the top, Julius Cresar being the flrst that they indulg'd 
to raise his palace In this fastigious manner, as Salmasius 
tells us in Solin. Evelyn, Architecture. 
fastigium (fas-tij'i-um), n. ; -pi. fastigia (-a). 
[L. : see fastigiate.'] 1. The summit, apex, or 
ridge of a building, or of a pediment. 2. The 
pediment of a portico : so called in ancient ar- 
chitecture because it followed the form of the 
roof. 3. [NL.] In entom., the extreme point 
of the front or apex of the head when, as in 
many Orthoptera, it is produced in a conical 
prominence. 
fasting (fas'ting), n. [< ME. fasting, festing; 
verbal n. of. fast*, v.'] 1. The act of abstaining 
from food ; the act of observing a fast. 
Fasting is better than eating, and more thanke hath of 
God ; * yet wil God that we shal eat. 
Sir T. More, Cumfort against Tribulation (1573), fol. 39. 
And she [Anna] . . . served God with fastings and 
prayers night and day. Luke ii. 37. 
2. In the law and customs of ancient commu- 
nities, particularly in Ireland, a method for the 
collection of debts, by which the creditor went 
to the door of the debtor, and there sat down 
to stay without food until paid: a person who 
would not yield to this form of demand was 
treated thereafter in some sense as an outlaw. 
fasting-day (fas'ting-da), n. Aday of complete 
abstinence from food ; a day of fasting ; a fast- 
day. 
To werke we geden 
As welfastingdaies as Frydaies. 
Piers Plowman (C), vii. 182. 
Here are ayries of hawkes, and birds which never fly 
but over the sea ; and, therefore, are used to be eaten on 
fasting-days. Quoted in O'Curry'g Anc. Irish, II. xxii. 
fasting-gangt, n. [ME. fusty ngonge; cf. fast- 
gang.] Shrove-tide ; the beginning of Lent. 
Ye threde [meeting] schal be ye souneday next after 
Fastyngonge. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 69. 
fastinglyt (fas'ting-li), adv. With fasting. 
At lengthe bespeakes the citte mouse : my frende why lyke 
you still, 
To lyue in countrye/a<t/)!fl(i/, vpon a craggie hill? 
Drant, tr. of Horace's Satires, ii. 6. 
fasting-mant (fas'ting-man), . [Repr. AS. 
"faisting-mann, only in pi. ftesting-men, cited 
in L. documents of the AS. period; lit. a man 
given into charge or keeping, < AS. fasting, a 
giving or intrusting to the charge of another, 
< fwstan, make fast, be-fastan, make fast, es- 
tablish, give in charge, intrust (see fast 1 , v. t.), 
+ mann, man.] in Anglo-Saxon law, a person, 
as a servant of the king, who could be quartered 
upon a monastery or other estate, which was 
obliged to entertain him, in the course of the 
king's journeying. Also fasterman. 
fasting's-even (fas'Jingz-e'vn), n. Same as 
fastens. 
fasting-spittlet (fas'ting-spif'l), n. The saliva 
of a fasting person, formerly held to be very 
efficacious in ceremonies, charms, etc. 
They have their cups and chalices, 
Their pardons and indulgences, . . . 
Their holy oyle, their fasting-spittle, 
Their sacred salt here not a little. 
Herrick, Hesperides, p. 98. 
fastland (fast'land), n. Upland, as distin- 
guished from flats, or land between high- and 
low-water mark. 
fat 
fastlyH (fast'li), adr. [ME. */% (not found), 
< AS. ftestliee, firmly, constantly. < firxllic, a., 
firm, (.foist, firm: see /as/ 1 and-ty 2 .] Firmly; 
fixedly. [Rare.] 
Ergo he confesseth here plainely the contrary of that he 
sofastelye before hath alliiim-il. 
,-iir T. More, Works, p. 556. 
For he hath foully founded it, 
Above the seas to stand. 
Ps. xxiv. 2 (old version). 
fastly 2 t (fast'li), adv. [< fast* + -fy 2 .] Quickly. 
A reverend man that grazed his cattle nigh . . . 
Towards this afflicted fancy fastly drew. 
Shak., Lover's Complaint, 1. 61. 
She [Queen Elizabeth] chaffed [chafed] much, walked 
fastly to and fro, . . . and swore "By God's Son, I am no 
queen ; that man [Essex] is above me I " 
Sir J. Hariwjton, Account of Elizabeth. 
fastness 1 (fast'nes), 11. [< ME. fastnesse, fest- 
nesse, firmness, certainty, a stronghold, the fir- 
mament, < AS. fastnes, farstnis, firmness, a 
stronghold, the firmament, < fa'St, firm, fast, 
fixed, + -nes, -ness. Cf . AS. fa-sten, a strong- 
hold, fastness, an inclosed place, < feest + -en. 
Cf. D. vest, a wall, rampart, fortress, = OHG. 
festi, firmness, a fortress, = G. feste, a fortress, 
= Sw. faste, a castle, the firmament, = Dan. 
fxste, a fastening; Sw. fdstning = Dan. fcest- 
ning, a fortress.] 1. The state of being fast 
and firm or fixed ; firm adherence. 
The blue produced is of a greenish shade, and possesses 
great fastness. BenedM, Coal-tar Colours (trans.), p. 134. 
2. Strength; security. 
And eke the fastnesse of his dwelling place. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. ix. 5. 
3. A stronghold ; a fortress or fort; a fortified 
place ; a castle. 
Not far off should be Roderigo's quarter ; 
For in his fastness, if I be not cozen'd, 
He and his outlaws live. Fletcher, Pilgrim. 
Venice cooped up within her sea-girt fastnesses, and 
compelled to enroll her artisans and common laborers in 
her defence. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 22. 
4f. Closeness or conciseness, as of style. 
Bring his stile from all loose grossness to such firm fast- 
ness in Latin, as in Demosthenes. 
Ascham, The Scholemaster. 
fastness 2 (fast'nes), H. [< /as/ 2 + -ness.] The 
state or quality of being fast, in any sense. 
Another change manifest to me during my London life 
... is the increased fastness of living incident to all 
classes and occupations of men. . . . The loiterers in life 
are fewer. Sir 11. Holland, Recollections, p. 268. 
The evil of Selina's nature made her wish ... to bring 
her sister to her own color by putting an appearance of 
"fastness " upon her. //. James, Jr., A London Life. 
= Syn. Speed, Swiftness, etc. See quickness. 
fastningt, Same as fastening. 
fast-shot (fast'shot), n. In mining, a blast which 
has had no effect on the rock ; a miss-shot. 
fastuosityt (fas-tu-os'i-ti), n. [= Sp. fastuosi- 
dad, < LL. fastuosus, fastuous: seefastitons and 
-ity.] The quality of being fastuous ; haughti- 
ness; ostentation. 
That new modle of ethicks, which hath been obtruded 
upon the world with so much fastuosity. 
Dr. II. More, Antidote against Atheism. 
fastUOUSt (fas'tu-us), a. [= F. fastuevx = Sp. 
fastuoso, fastoso = Pg. It. fastoso, < LL. fas- 
tiiosus, collateral form of L. fastosus, full of 
pride, < fastus, pride, haughtiness: see fastidi- 
ous.'] Proud; haughty. 
This is no fastuous or pompous title ; the word is of no 
dignity. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 185. 
The higher ranks will become fastuous, supercilious, 
and domineering. Barrou', The Pope's Supremacy. 
fastuouslyt (fas'tu-us-li), adv. In a fastuous 
manner; haughtily; proudly. 
We are apt to despise or disregard others, demeaning 
ourselves insolently and fastuously toward them. 
Barrow, Works, III. xxix. 
fastuousnesst (fas'tu-us-nes), n. Fastuosity; 
haughtiness. 
When Origen complained of Uw/UtuouMUMand vanity 
of some ecclesiastics in his time, they were bad enough, 
but had not come to a pretence of ruling our kings upon 
the stock of spiritual predilection. 
Jer. Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, II. 188. 
Diogenes trampled upon Plato's pride with a greater 
fastuousness and humorous ostentation. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 52. 
fat 1 (fat), a. and n. [< ME. fat, fet, also vat, 
vet, < AS. fart, usually ftett (fcctt being reg. con- 
tracted, with shortened vowel, from "failed = 
OLG. feitit = OHG. feizit, MHG. reizet, rcizt, G. 
feist, fat, orig. pp. of a verb "faitan = OHG. 
feizan = Icel. feita, from the adj.), prop, with a 
long vowel, fait (orig. "fat) = OFries. (late)/t, 
mod. fet = D. vet = MLG. fet, feit, LG. fett 
(> Q.fett) = MHG. veiz = Icel. fei'tr = Sw.fet = 
