The Collaborative International Dictionary
handfast \hand"fast`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. handfasted; p. pr. & vb. n. handfasting.]
To pledge; to bind. [Obs.]
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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.
Note: 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.
handfast \hand"fast`\, a.
Fast by contract; betrothed by joining hands. [Obs.]
--Bale.
handfast \hand"fast`\ (h[a^]nd"f[.a]st`), n.
Hold; grasp [Obs.]
--Shak.Custody; power of confining or keeping. [Obs.]
--Shak.A contract; specifically, an espousal. [Obs.]
handfast \hand"fast`\, a. [G. handfest; hand hand + fest strong.
See Fast.]
Strong; steadfast.[R.]
--Carlyle.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
Etymology 1
(context obsolete English) Fast by contract; betrothed by joining hands. n. 1 (context obsolete English) A hold, grasp; custody, power of confining or keeping. 2 (context obsolete English) A contract, agreement, covenant; specifically betrothal, espousal. v
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1 (context transitive English) To pledge; to bind 2 (context transitive Wicca English) To betroth by joining hands, in order to allow cohabitation before the celebration of marriage; to marry provisionally. Etymology 2
a. (context rare English) Strong; steadfast.
Usage examples of "handfast".
I can recall well the day, soon after the handfasting of the peace, when I, the child Queen of Britain, was plauded by the rejoyed Parisians and crowned Queen of France, thereby resuming the lapsed title of my forebears.
When the horoscope said that our relationship would be a strange one it spoke true, for the marriage we shared was no legal one but a handfast, without witnesses, between a man who knew not who he was and a woman who knew who he was only too well.
Carlina di Asturien looked with distaste on the embroidered veils and the blue velvet over-gown, set with pearls from Temora, that she would wear for the handfasting ceremony.
King Ardrin of Asturias held high festival, for he was handfasting his daughter Carlina to his foster son and nephew, Bard di Asturien, son of his brother, Dom Rafael of High Fens.
And if he were ever to be Gunn, he needed to consummate their handfast, an action he looked forward to with bated breath.
It was contagious magic which I used to track Jervon, for about my throat I wore the amulet of a strange stone shaped not unlike an eye, which he had found and carried for a luck piece since he was a boy, and then had put into my keeping upon our handfasting, having in those years of war no other bride-jewel to offer.