An archaic or dialectal form meaning to fasten, secure, or make fast; to hasten or hurry.
From Old English and related to Germanic fast- roots. The -en suffix marks it as a verb. This form is largely obsolete in modern English, surviving mainly in historical texts and dialect.
This word shows language evolution at work—'basten' competed with 'fasten' centuries ago, and 'fasten' won out, yet 'basten' survives in phrases like 'hasten,' showing how one word's defeat doesn't erase linguistic traces.
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