- baste (1)
- "sew together loosely," mid-15c., from O.Fr. bastir "build, construct, sew up (a garment), baste, make, prepare, arrange" (12c., Mod.Fr. bâtir "to build"), from Frankish *bastjan "to sew or bind with bast," from P.Gmc. *bastjan "join together with bast" (cf. O.H.G. besten; see bast).
- baste (2)
- "to soak in gravy, moisten," c.1500, possibly from O.Fr. basser "to moisten," from bassin "basin."
- baste (3)
- "beat, thrash," 1530s, perhaps from the cookery sense of baste (2) or from some Scandinavian source (e.g. Swedish basa "to beat, flog," bösta "to thump") akin to O.N. beysta "to beat," related to O.E. beatan (see beat).