festermann.

Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic festumaðr (inflected festumann- ) surety, person who stands surety, Old Swedish fæsto­mæn (plural) witnesses to legal transactions, and also Old Icelandic festarmaðr , Norwegian (Nynorsk) festarmann , Old Swedish fæstamaþer , fæstimaþer , fæsteman (Swedish fästman ; also †fästaman , fästerman ), Old Danish festeman , fæsteman (Danish fæstemand ; also †fæsterman ), all in the sense ‘betrothed man’; ultimately < (the genitive of) a noun derivative of the Germanic base of fast v.¹ and fast adj. (see note) + the Germanic base of man n.¹). Compare Old English feste pledge, security (in isolated use; probably < early Scandinavian; compare Old Icelandic festa pledge, security).Borrowing from early Scandinavian. The Scandinavian compounds cited above represent two morphologically distinct formations whose first elements are closely related. The first element of the Old Icelandic compound festumaðr is the genitive of a weak feminine noun festa pledge, bail, agreement, while the first element of festarmaðr is the genitive of a related strong feminine noun festr rope, cord, chain, (in plural) betrothal (compare fast n.²), both derivatives of the Germanic base of fast v.¹ and fast adj. While in early West Norse (as reflected by Old Icelandic) the morphological (and semantic) distinction between the two related nouns and their compounds is usually maintained, this was probably not the case in early East Norse, from which Old English festerman is likely to have been borrowed. Developments in attested Swedish and Danish support this assumption; in Old Swedish there is considerable semantic overlap between the corresponding nouns fæsta (Swedish fästa ) and fæst (Swedish fäst ) and their compounds, while in Danish the two nouns merged early as fæste . It must be assumed that the Old English word was borrowed from a form of the early Scandinavian compound with the strong feminine noun as first element, and which had the sense ‘surety, person who stands surety’ (only attested for the compound with the weak feminine noun). The rare Old English feste is attested in a source that also shows use of festermen ; it probably reflects parallel borrowing from early Scandinavian within the Danelaw. The inherited Old English equivalent was borghand person who stands surety for another person ( < borrow n. + hand n.). History within English. Early Middle English fastermannes perhaps shows the influence of (ultimately related) fast adj. Quot. c1210 probably does not imply currency in contemporary legal practice in the 13th cent. There is no continuity between Old English and later (historical) use.