English word origin

Etymology of baste

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

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY

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Chambers (1908)

1908

BasteEnglish · e-37683-2346
Baste, bāst, v.t. to beat with a stick. [Prob. conn. with Ice. beysta, Dan. böste, to beat.]
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BasteEnglish · e-37683-2347
Baste, bāst, v.t. to drop fat or butter over meat while roasting to keep it from burning and to improve the flavour. [Ety. unknown.]
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BasteEnglish · e-37683-2348
Baste, bāst, v.t. to sew slightly or with long stitches. [O. Fr. bastír, from Old High Ger. bestan, to sew.]
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In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

verb

To sew with long or loose stitches, as for temporary use, or in preparation for gathering the fabric.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentionbastirfro · build, construct, sew up (a garment)

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

verb

To sprinkle flour and salt and drip butter or fat on, as on meat in roasting. · To coat over something. · To mark (sheep, etc.) with tar.

noun

A basting; a sprinkling of drippings etc. in cooking.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionbastenenm
Derivation mentionbasserfro · moisten, soak

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗

verb

To beat with a stick; to cudgel.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Cognate mentionbaustanon
Cognate mentionbeystais
Cognate mentionbøystann
Cognate mentionböstasv
Cognate mentionbøsteda
Derivation mention*baustjanągem-pro
Cognate mentionbǫstlnon
Cognate mentionböstelsv
Cognate mentionFaustde
Cognate mentionfustisla
Cognate mentionbâtonfr · stick

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

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Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-YmFzdGU