Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
HANDFAST
Etymology 1
Noun
handfast (plural handfasts)
(obsolete) A hold, grasp; custody, power of confining or keeping.
(obsolete) A contract, agreement, covenant; specifically betrothal, espousal.
Verb
handfast (third-person singular simple present handfasts, present participle handfasting, simple past and past participle handfasted)
(transitive) To pledge; to bind
(transitive, Scotland, archaic or historical, except, Wicca) To betroth by joining hands, in order to allow for cohabitation before the celebration of marriage; to marry provisionally.
Adjective
handfast
(obsolete) Fast by contract; betrothed by joining hands.
Etymology 2
Adjective
handfast (comparative more handfast, superlative most handfast)
(rare) Strong; steadfast.
Source: Wiktionary
Hand"fast`, n.
1. Hold; grasp; custody; power of confining or keeping. [Obs.] Shak.
2. Contract; specifically, espousal. [Obs.]
Hand"fast`, a.
Definition: Fast by contract; betrothed by joining hands. [Obs.] Bale.
Hand"fast`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Handfasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Handfasting.]
Definition: To pledge; to bind; to betroth by joining hands, in order to cohabitation, before the celebration of marriage. [Obs.]
Hand"fast`, n. Etym: [G. handfest; hand hand + fest strong. See Fast.]
Definition: Strong; steadfast.[R.] Carlyle.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
30 June 2025
BODILY
(adjective) affecting or characteristic of the body as opposed to the mind or spirit; “bodily needs”; “a corporal defect”; “corporeal suffering”; “a somatic symptom or somatic illness”
Coffee Trivia
