aghast

views updated May 21 2018

a·ghast / əˈgast/ • adj. filled with horror or shock: when the news came out they were aghast.ORIGIN: late Middle English: past participle of the obsolete verb agast, gast ‘frighten,’ from Old English gǣsten. The spelling with gh (originally Scots) became general by about 1700, probably influenced by ghost; compare with ghastly.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

aghast

views updated May 23 2018

aghast XIII. ME. agast, pp. of †agasten frighten, f. A-3 + †gasten, app. :- OE. gǣstan. The sp. with gh (XVIII) is due to assoc. with GHASTLY.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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