Past tense of fast; abstained from food or ate very little, typically for religious, health, or spiritual reasons.
From Old English 'fæstan,' from Germanic roots meaning 'to hold firm' or 'to abstain.' The word originally meant holding back from food. The past tense adds '-ed.'
Fasting as a religious practice is ancient—the word itself shows this, coming from the meaning 'to hold firm' against hunger, used across Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism!
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