astart

A1S1T1A1R1T1
/əˈstɑː(ɹ)t/

verb

To cause to start; startle; start up; jump.

OriginMiddle English asterten ← Old English ā- →
Scrabble 6
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Meanings

verbastart (third-person singular simple present astarts, present participle astarting, simple past and past participle astarted)

present singular third person astarts · participle present astarting · participle past astarted · past astarted

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo cause to start; startle; start up; jump.

    oft out of her bed she did astart, / As one with vew of ghastly feends affright [...].

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  2. intransitiveTo start up.
  3. obsoleteTo get away, escape; escape from.
  4. intransitiveTo be escaped from.
adverbastart (not comparable)
  1. not comparableobsoleteWith a start; suddenly.

Origin

  1. Old Englishā-
  2. Middle Englishasterten
  3. Englishastart

From Middle English asterten, asteorten, from a- (from Old English ā-) + sterten, equivalent to a- + start.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

strataSattarTatrasstraat
Cite this entry
APA

astart. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astart

MLA

“astart.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astart. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “astart,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astart.

Source: astart on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.