fastnesses

Noun

fastness (countable and uncountable, plural fastnesses)

1. The quality or state of being strongly attached; firmness, secureness, tenacity.
   • [T]he thing, as it is, having firſt taken vp her ſtand in the memory, and there by the way of knowledge and witting, imprinted it-ſelfe, it were hard it ſhould not repreſent it ſelfe to the imagination, diſplacing and ſupplanting falſehood, which therein can have no ſuch footing, or ſetled...1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Of Lyers”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 16
2. (specifically) The ability of a dye to withstand fading.
   • Although aniline dyes have replaced most natural dyes in the modern era, natural dyers still revere cochineal for its brilliance and fastness.2026, Sara Temme, “Two Insects nad Their Brilliant Reds”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 19
3. The quality or state of moving quickly; quickness, rapidity, swiftness.
   • [Frog:] Why are all of us fleein'? What dire peril threatens our sylvan fastness?
   • [Bug:] Just run! Your fastness shouldn't be too slow.1959 September 13, Walt Kelly, Pogo, Sunday, comic strip, →ISBN, page 251
4. The quality or state of having an extravagant lifestyle or immoral habits.
5. (archaic) Of a fortress or other place: the quality or state of being secure from access or attack; safety, security.
   • But now his cruelty ſo ſore ſhe drad, / That to thoſe fennes for faſtneſſe ſhe did fly, / And there her ſelfe did hyde from his hard tyranny.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 18, page 316
6. (obsolete) The quality or state of being firm, hard, or solid; firmness, hardness, solidity.
   • Which was brought to paſſe I beleue, […] by a good way of Epitome, in binding him ſelfe to tranſlate meros Atticos Oratores, and ſo to bring his ſtyle, from all lowſe groſneſſe, to ſoch firme faſtnes in latin, as is in Demoſthenes in Greeke.a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, “[The Second Booke Teachyng the Ready Way to the Latin Tong]”, in Margaret Ascham, editor, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to...

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