Etymology Dictionary

VAST,  great, of great extent.  (F.,—L.)    We possess this word in two forms, viz. vast and waste, both being from French; the latter being much the older.   They are generally used with different senses, but in the Owl and Nightingale, l. 17, we have:  'in ore waste þikke hegge' = in a vast thick hedge, in a great thick hedge.   We may, however, consider vast as belonging to the 16th century; it does not seem to be much older than the latter part of that century.   'That mightie and vaste sea;' Hackluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 822 (R.)—F. vaste, 'vast;' Cot.—Lat. uastum, acc. of uastus, vast, of large extent.   See further under Waste.   Der. vast, sb., Temp. i. 2. 327, Wint. Tale, i. 1. 33; vast-ly, vast-ness; also vast-y, adj., Merch. Ven. ii. 7. 41.   Also de-vast-ate.