fastness
fastness Lexical Profile
fastness Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The quality or state of being firmly fixed, secure, or resistant to fading or washing (especially of a dye or color).
"The textile laboratory tested the fabric for color fastness under prolonged ultraviolet light."
The quality or state of moving or happening at high speed; rapidity.
"The sheer fastness of the modern telecommunications network allows instantaneous global data transfer."
A secure, remote, or fortified place, such as a mountain stronghold or refuge that is difficult to access.
"The endangered snow leopards retreated into the rocky fastnesses of the high Himalayas."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'fastness' can mean speed, in literary, historical, and technical contexts it much more frequently preserves the older meaning of 'fast' as firm or secure, referring either to a remote stronghold or to the resistance of a dye to fading.
• Rhymes for fastness
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'fæstnes', meaning firmness, stability, or a fortified place, formed from 'fæst' (firm, fixed, secure) and the suffix '-nes'. The sense relating to high speed developed much later alongside the shift in the adjective 'fast'.