Kata bahasa Indonesia
English word
CIDE DICTIONARY
handfast, n.
- Hold; grasp Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Custody; power of confining or keeping. Shak. [1913 Webster]
- A contract; specifically, an espousal. [1913 Webster]
handfast, a.
Fast by contract; betrothed by joining hands. Bale. [1913 Webster]
handfast, v. t.
- To pledge; to bind. [1913 Webster]
- To betroth by joining hands, in order to permit cohabitation, before the formal celebration of marriage; in some parts of Scotland it was in effect to marry provisionally, permitting cohabitation for a year, after which the marriage could be formalized or dissolved. [1913 Webster]" Handfasting was a simple contract of agreement under which cohabitation was permitted for a year, at the end of which time the contract could be either dissolved or made permanent by a formal marriage. Such marriages, at first probably not intended to be temporary, are supposed to have originated in Scotland from a scarcity of clergy, and to have existed at times in other countries." [Century Dict. 1906.]
handfast, a. [G. handfest; hand hand + fest strong. See Fast.].
Strong; steadfast. Carlyle. [1913 Webster]