HANDFASTING

Verb

handfasting

present participle of handfast

Noun

handfasting (plural handfastings)

The ceremony in which people handfast.

Source: Wiktionary


HANDFAST

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



RESET




Word of the Day

21 April 2025

ENCYCLOPEDIA

(noun) a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or with some particular specialty


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Coffee Trivia

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.

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