has·ten  (h ās ən)
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v. has·tened, has·ten·ing, has·tens v.intr. To move or act swiftly. See Synonyms at speed. v.tr.1. To cause to move or act swiftly: The guard hastened him out of the room. 2. To cause to happen sooner than otherwise would be the case: negotiations that hastened the end of the war. 3. To speed up; accelerate: fanned the wet paint to hasten drying. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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