Etymology

baste

B3A1S1T1E1

Today it means: To sew with long or loose stitches, as for temporary use, or in preparation for gathering the fabric. Full definition →

Old French bastir
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baste · verb1

  1. Old French · derived frombastir“build, construct, sew up (a garment)”
  2. English todaybaste

Late Middle English, from Old French bastir (“build, construct, sew up (a garment)”).

baste · verb, noun2

  1. Old French · derived frombasser“moisten, soak”
  2. Middle English · inherited frombasten
  3. English todaybaste

From Middle English basten, of uncertain etymon, possibly from Old French basser (“moisten, soak”), from bacin (“basin”).

baste · verb3

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*baustjaną
  2. English todaybaste

From the surface, either an indigenous cognate or borrowed from North Germanic; compare: Old Norse bausta, Icelandic beysta, Norwegian Nynorsk bøysta, Swedish bösta, bysta, Danish bøste (“to smack, thresh”), to a Proto-Germanic *baustjaną. Compare derivatives Old Norse bǫstl (“arrow”), Swedish böstel (“racket, pestle”), böste (“crowbar”). Further compare fist, German Faust (“fist”), etc, and Latin fustis (“cudgel”). Might be related to French bâton (“stick”) (formerly baston); English baton comes from bâton; see also French bastonnade (“the act of beating with a stick”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.