late 13c., "hurrying, haste; celerity, swiftness, speed;" c. 1300, "need for quick action, urgency;" from Old French haste "haste, urgency, hastiness" (12c., Modern French hâte), from Frankish *haifst "violence" or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *haifstiz (source also of Gothic haifsts "strife," Old English hæste "violent, vehement, impetuous"). From late 14c. as "undue haste, rashness, unwise or unseemly quickness." To make haste "act quickly" is recorded by 1530s.
