English edit

Etymology edit

fast +‎ en- -en

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

enfasten (third-person singular simple present enfastens, present participle enfastening, simple past and past participle enfastened)

  1. (rare, chiefly literary) To fasten, to bind tightly.
    • c 1819–1861: Arthur Hugh Clough, Amours de Voyage: Canto V, V. Claude tu Eustace
      Utterly vain is, alas! this attempt at the Absolute, — wholly!
      I, who believed not in her, because I would fain believe nothing,
      Have to believe as I may, with a wilful, unmeaning acceptance.
      I, who refused to enfasten the roots of my floating existence
      In the rich earth, cling now to the hard, naked rock that is left me, —
      Ah! she was worthy, Eustace — and that, indeed, is my comfort, —
      Worthy a nobler heart than a fool such as I could have given her.