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vast (adj.)
1570s, "being of great extent or size," from French vaste, from Latin vastus "immense, extensive, huge," also "desolate, unoccupied, empty." The two meanings probably originally attached to two separate words, one with a long -a- one with a short -a-, that merged in early Latin (see waste (v.)). Meaning "very great in quantity or number" is from 1630s; that of "very great in degree" is from 1670s. Very popular early 18c. as an intensifier. Related: Vastly; vastness; vasty.
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Definitions of vast
Dictionary entries near vast
vasoconstriction
vasodilation
vasopressin
vassal
vassalage
vast
vat
vaterland
vates
vatic
Vatican